Click here for photos from Ireland’s 43-12 autumn International win over Romania on Saturday.
Pictured above: Wasps flanker Johnny O’Connor performing a front roll as he dots down Ireland’s fourth try in front of the South Terrace. The Galway man, earning his tenth cap, was scoring his first try for Ireland, but warned afterwards that his future tries will not be followed by any gymnastic-style celebrations. “Maybe I was a bit over exuberant in the celebration. But you don’t get many of them and that was a big moment for me.
“I don’t know what was going through my head – I never did it before. It was a bit silly but it’s done. I won’t be doing it the next time, that’s for sure,” added the 25-year-old.
Two-try hero Andrew Trimble putting in a heavy hit on Romanian centre Ioan Teodorescu. Trimble earned his second cap – scoring a try in either half – on Saturday alongside Leinster’s Gordon D’Arcy in midfield.
Andrew Trimble grounding his second try – three minutes into the second half. The conversion from captain David Humphreys, one of six Ulstermen on from the start, handed Ireland a 24-6 lead.
The aforementioned Gordon D’Arcy, who was solid throughout in his 15th appearance for Ireland. D’Arcy, as a teenager, made his Test debut against Romania during the 1999 Rugby World Cup, but owing to injuries and a loss of form, the Wexford man had to wait until 2002 (v Fiji) before earning his second cap.
Munster prop Marcus Horan (centre) was one of a number of Ireland players who wore black armbands for Saturday’s Test match in remembrance of former Manchester United and Northern Ireland soccer star George Best, who sadly passed away on Friday.
Shane Horgan, who started on the right wing, is tackled by Romania’s Ioan Teodorescu.
Munster lock Donncha O’Callaghan, who started all three of Ireland’s autumn Internationals, tries to burst past Romanian fly-half Ionut Dimofte. O’Callaghan was replaced with ten minutes remaining by his provincial colleague Mick O’Driscoll, who was winning his third cap.
David Humphreys, Irish skipper for the afternoon, comes under press from the Romanian defence. The Ulster fly-half was earning his 72nd Test cap on Saturday, leaving him three behind Leinster lock Malcolm O’Kelly, who is Ireland’s current record caps holder.
Replacement full-back Girvan Dempsey, on the field for barely three minutes, is shown scoring Ireland’s sixth try on 73 minutes. Saturday marked Dempsey’s 62nd cap and he crowned it with his 14th Test try. The Leinster back lost his Ireland number 15 shirt to Geordan Murphy for each of the three autumn Tests, but will be pushing hard for a recall for the Six Nations kick-off in February.
**All photos by Lorraine O’Sullivan, Andrew Paton and Billy Stickland of Inpho Photography**
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