Tommy Bowe and man-of-the-match Keith Earls scored two tries apiece as Ireland accounted for Romania on a 44-10 scoreline, and in the process moved back to the top of Rugby World Cup Pool D.
The fervent Ireland fans created a memorable atmosphere at Wembley Stadium where a record Rugby World Cup attendance of 89,267 watched Joe Schmidt’s men make it two wins out of two.
Ireland lie a point clear of France at the top of Pool D after another efficient afternoon’s work, the highlights including braces for wingers Tommy Bowe and Keith Earls, a trio of try assists from Simon Zebo and World Cup debuts for five players – Darren Cave, Richardt Strauss, Devin Toner, Jordi Murphy and 22-year-old replacement prop Tadhg Furlong.
Two early penalties from Ian Madigan got the Six Nations champions off the mark, with Romanian scrum half Valentin Calafeteanu sandwiching in a lone response from the kicking tee.
A foot in touch denied full-back Zebo a tremendous try on the quarter hour mark, but Ireland’s back-three combined to telling effect in the 19th minute. Earls’ fine leap to gather an Eoin Reddan box-kick launched an attack that finished with Zebo sending Bowe over for a textbook diving finish in the right corner.
Out-half Madigan converted and Zebo’s inch perfect looping pass then opened up the space for the electric Earls, standing near the 22-metre line, to scamper along the left touchline and over for a 28th minute try.
18-3 is how it stayed up to the interval, and Ireland, emerging from a sloppy finish to the first half, wasted little time in adding to their lead on the resumption. Three minutes in, Reddan attacked off the side of a maul and dinked a kick through for the quick-reacting Earls to dot down and score his seventh World Cup try – equalling Brian O’Driscoll’s Irish tournament record. Madigan converted again.
A combination of stubborn Romanian defence and loose Irish play left the game scoreless until Bowe struck on the hour, reaching over in the right corner for his 30th try for his country. He is now second on the all-time Ireland list having edged ahead of Denis Hickie (29).
The Monaghan man’s try saw Ireland take immediate advantage of the sin-binning of Romanian centre Czaba Gal. He saw yellow for taking out Reddan at the back of a ruck, and a neat loop between Reddan and the newly-introduced Paddy Jackson, with Madigan running a decoy line, set up Bowe to score out wide.
With the bonus point secured, Ireland soon opened the Oaks up for a fifth try. From a midfield scrum, centre Cave, whose line-breaking ability came to the fore in the final quarter, was involved in a move that released Zebo down the left wing and he passed back inside for replacement Rob Kearney to finish off his second score of the tournament.
The increasingly influential Cave then went close on a muscular midfield burst. Romanian scrum half Calafeteanu infringed at the ensuing ruck in his 22 and with Jackson dispatching the kick to touch, Jordi Murphy’s athletic lineout take paved the way for a powerful maul that ended with flanker Chris Henry touching down and Madigan converting.
It was far from a blemish-free performance from Ireland, though, and conceding a late consolation try to big lock Ovidiu Tonita, who barged past Jackson and Madigan to cross in the 77th minute, will rankle.
There was also concern for Kearney who injured himself in the act of scoring and had to limp off. Commenting on the Louth man’s injury, Schmidt said afterwards: “(It’s) through his glute and his hip, it might have been when his knee hit the ground..He jarred himself up a bit.”
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