Dunedin-raised Irish debutant Sean Jansen (left) celebrates with his family (from left), father Fred, mother Kathleen, brother Ciaran and uncle Luke after their Nations Championship victory in Australia. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES Sean Jansen had a test debut to remember. The Dunedin-raised No 8 scored a try and finished with a player-of-the-match performance helping Ireland beat Japan 36-20 in Newcastle on Saturday. ‘‘I’m so privileged to be able to wear this jersey — what a win,’’ Jansen said after the game. ‘‘Dream come true.’’ Jansen, whose family and friends made the trip to Australia to see him in action, finished with a try, 48m gained, 12 carries and made all of his 14 tackles. He grew up in Dunedin, went to Otago Boys’ High School, impressed with Green Island and spent a season on loan to North Otago. Jansen, who qualifies for Ireland through his grandparents, played 15 games for Leicester before joining Irish club Connacht. Japan, technically the home side in neutral Newcastle, struck early with a 60m try from winger Taira Main as he broke the Irish defensive line, but it proved a brief respite. The Irish forwards got to work and had too much power for their opponents, with flanker Nick Timoney and prop Tom O’Toole crossing for tries before centre Robbie Henshaw added a third before halftime as Ireland led 19-13 at the break. The forwards carried on making metres and Jansen crossed over from close range. Japan hit back just before the hour mark as replacement hooker Hayate Era burrowed over the line to close the gap to six points and keep Jones’ side in the hunt. But a penalty followed by a late try from replacement hooker Tom Stewart made the victory more emphatic for the Irish. South Africa scored six tries and held their nerve against a Scottish onslaught to claim a 42-28 victory in their Nations Championship clash in Pretoria on Saturday, with the visitors left to rue several missed opportunities. The Springboks made 10 changes to the team that had defeated England the week before and, with a relatively inexperienced side, were there for the taking. But a wasteful Scotland could not capitalise and remain winless in South Africa after eight attempts. Henry Pollock scored a hat-trick as England ran in 11 tries in a 73-8 thrashing of Fiji in their Nations Championship clash, ending a run of five successive test defeats. Outgoing Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt has labelled his side’s latest test loss ‘‘soul destroying’’ after France stormed from behind to consign Australia to a sixth consecutive defeat. The back-to-back Six Nations champions trailed 21-12 at halftime at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night, but scored 30 consecutive points after the break in a 42-26 win that got messy for the hosts in the final 20 minutes. It followed the Wallabies’ two-point loss to world No 3 Ireland a week ago, when they also led by 12 points, and marked Australia’s first six-game losing streak in 10 years and ninth loss from their past 10 tests. In the other Nations Championship game, Argentina beat Wales 35-21. — Additional reporting Reuters/AAP
