Ireland Power Past Fiji With Eight Try Victory

Player of the Match Bundee Aki was in sparkling form with one try, seventeen carries for 176 metres, six defenders beaten and seven tackles.

Aki’s score, one of eight by Ireland, came just 6 minutes into the second half with Ireland already leading 28-3 thanks to four first half tries from Caelan Doris, Mack Hansen, Craig Casey and Josh van der Flier. It was an important score given Ireland’s scoreless second half against Argentina a week ago and three more came from Hansen, debutant Gus McCarthy and Ronan Kelleher.

Almost straight off the bat in this Dublin match, new fly-half Sam Prendergast kicked a penalty to the corner; a telling effort since he got his forwards as close to the try line as possible. A cleverly-worked lineout saw debutant hooker Gus McCarthy arc around the lineout and pop the ball back inside for captain Caelan Doris to score. Prendergast converted for his first points in international rugby.

No sooner had the young playmaker from Leinster scored than he was being given his marching orders: a yellow card, with a bunker review, a no arms tackle on Fijian openside Kitione Salawa.

Fiji almost scored in the next breath with a stirring flight up the right wing, but knocked on in the act of touching down.

Instead it was Ireland who were galvanised by the act of losing their main man. Fiji were penalised for not rolling away at a ruck in the shadow of their posts, and Ireland orchestrated another sumptuous set play after taking a tap, Doris this time the provider for openside Josh van der Flier after a superb switch by McCarthy. Scrum-half  Casey added the extras in the absence of his half-back partner.

Fiji fly-half Caleb Muntz struck a good penalty from just under 40 metres out to make it 14-3 approaching the end of the first quarter.

Referee Hollie Davidson yellow carded loosehead Eroni Mawi. But still the visitors continued to give away penalties, and with Prendergast back on the field, he kicked to touch for another 5m lineout.

Ireland put numbers into the ensuing maul. McCarthy broke away and slipped the ball to Casey on the wing for a diving try (his first in Test rugby). Prendergast’s successful conversion from the touchline showed what he’s capable of from the tee. 21-3.

Ireland then made a sequence of uncharacteristic errors, both at lineout and in their handling, which prevented them from putting down an emphatic full stop on the first half until minute 41, when Prendergast, under pressure from a Fiji defence rushing off their line, made a pinpoint crossfield kick to Mack Hansen for the wing to score. There was a mild gasp from the crowd as Prendergast’s conversion attempt bounced off the post, but made it over nonetheless.

Ireland’s next try that had  a series of passes in and out of contact keeping the ball alive, with centre Bundee Aki crossing for his team’s fifth of the afternoon.

Sometimes there’s no substitute for raw power. This much was true when Salawa burst from the base of a ruck near the Irish 5m line and nobody could stop the flanker from scoring his fourth try in eight Test matches. Muntz converted for a 35-10 scoreline.

After an hour, former U20 Six Nations winner McCarthy drover over the line from a rolling maul to put the icing on an assured Test debut, while his U20s teammate Prendergast – who was joined in the second half by brother Cian – added the extras.

Fiji had the perfect response, with Muntz darting through the Irish defence and offloading to teenaged replacement Setareki Turagacoke to score. The score, thanks to Muntz’s simple conversion, now read 42-17 with a little over 10 minutes left to play.

It became a game of tit-for-tat as Ireland’s phases of attack caused the Fijian defence to narrow on their try-line, allowing Hansen the tiniest of gaps to score his second in the corner: 47-17.

On 78 minutes Doris drew the defender in the visitors’ 22 and passed to replacement hooker Ronan Kelleher for a try to take Ireland to 52 points.