Sports Editor Adam Schmitz Reviews Ireland's 52-17 Win over Fiji on Saturday, and previews Ireland's next game against Australia on Saturday
Prior to Saturday's game it’s fair to say that the Autumn Nations Series had not gotten off to the start Andy Farrell would have wanted. With a defeat to New Zealand and a narrow victory over Argentina last week, Farrell made seven changes to the starting team in the hopes of a more convincing performance against Fiji. Two uncapped players in the form of Leinster’s Gus McCarthy and Ulster’s Cormac Izuchukwu featured in the starting fifteen while Sam Prendergast also had his first start for Ireland. Bundee Aki returning to his starting position in midfield was also one of the main talking points before the game.
The Flying Fijians are reigning Pacific Cup Champions and come to the Aviva off the back of wins over Wales and Spain. Fiji Coach Mick Bynre arrived in Dublin looking to claim the side’s first ever win over Ireland, having lost in their previous five meetings.
With the Aviva Stadium sold out for the third week in a row, and President Michael D. Higgins having ensured he’d shaken enough hands, Fiji got the game underway.
Ireland got off to a strong start in the fourth minute after Sam Prendergast put the ball out for a line out which was easily won in the air. Gus McCarthy, who made his Irish debut, delivered a handy pass to captain Caelan Doris who rushed forward and scored the first points of the day through a strong try. Prendergast easily converted to give Ireland an early 7 point lead before he then received a yellow card just three minutes later for a high shot on Fiji’s Kitione Salawa, which saw Ireland a man down for the next ten minutes.
The ninth minute saw a breakthrough from Fiji with prop Luke Tagi slowly moving towards the line before managing to get the ball to Jiuta Wainiqolo while being tackled. Wainiqolo put the ball down in an attempt to earn Fiji their first five points but a TMO review confirmed that it was just short of the line. The ball continued to stay in a dangerous area for Ireland before being strongly kicked towards the middle of the pitch by Jamie Osborne, who started the game after an impressive performance off the bench last week against Las Pumas.
Ireland doubled their lead with a converted try in the fifteenth minute. Good movement from Jacob Stockdale earned a touch and go from five metres which saw Gus McCarthy deliver an excellent pass to Caelan Doris who quickly gave it to tryscorer Josh van der Flier.
A strong start from Ireland put a smile on Andy Farrell’s face.
After Fiji earned their first three points through a 37 metre penalty kick from Caleb Muntz, Eroni Mawi received a yellow card. Ireland attempted to immediately take advantage as Cormac Izuchukwu thought he had a dream debut by scoring Ireland’s third try of the game, but the pass he received from Mack Hansen was deemed to be a forward pass.
The 27th minute saw UCD alumni Ciaran Frawley replace Jamie Osborne. Frawley made an immediate impact, gaining ground which led to an Irish lineout close to the try line. While that one came to nothing, another just 2 minutes later eventually led to Craig Casey leaping past Peni Matawalu and earning Ireland’s third try of the night. Back on the pitch after his sin bin, Sam Prendergast converted to put the score at 21-3, just over half an hour into proceedings. The score remained that way until just before halftime when a sensational kick from Prendergast found Mack Hansen in loads of space allowing him to easily place it down for a try. The out-half converted to leave the halftime score at 28-3.
Andy Farrell’s men wasted no time getting back to their first half form with a try in the 46th minute through Bundee Aki. After a number of quick passes in succession for Ireland the number 12 comfortably put the ball down for another five points. A brief TMO check for obstruction passed without causing any issues and Sam Prendergast added another successful conversion to his tally.
With the score at 35-3, Ireland made four changes at the 47th minute mark with Tom O’ Toole, Tom Clarkson and Stuart McCloskey entering the pitch replacing Andrew Porter, Finlay Bealham and Robbie Henshaw. Replacing Josh van der Flier was Cian Prendergast who joined his brother Sam on the pitch. A minute later, more Irish substitutions were made as Conor Murray replaced Jackob Stockdale and Iain Henderson came on for Cormac Izuchukwu after a stellar debut.
The 54th minute saw Fiji score their first try of the match, with Kitione Salawa fighting through three Irish players to put the ball down over the line following a line out from The Flying Fijians. Caleb Muntz scored the conversion to put the score at 35-10 in favour of the home side. Ireland thought they had cancelled out the Fijian try just moments later through Conor Murray but a scrum was awarded after Ciaran Frawley was deemed to have passed the ball forwards.
It was a dream debut for Ireland’s Gus McCarthy in the 63rd minute as he scored a try to extend Ireland’s lead to the thirty point mark.
A hard fought try from the Irish team was converted. Just one minute later McCarthy’s achievement was matched by Fiji’s number 19 Setareki Turagacoke who also earned a try on his debut. After Caleb Muntz, who afterwards converted the try, gained important ground while fighting through the Irish defence, he pawned the ball off to Turagacoke who sprinted the ball over the line. Just a minute later at the other end of the pitch he received a yellow card with the score set at 42-17.
The action-packed play continued in the 67th minute with Mack Hansen scoring his second try of the night right in the corner of the pitch after catching an excellent pass. Fiji head coach Mick Bynre was seen with his head in his hands as the gap widened back to thirty points with ten minutes to play. Sam Prendergast narrowly missed the conversion from arguably the toughest possible angle.
More Irish attacks continued in the following minutes, with Andy Farrell’s side showing a dominance that will no doubt please the fans a lot more than their last two performances. Farrell made another change with seven minutes on the clock as Rónan Kelleher replaced Bundee Aki. Bundee Aki impressed on his return to the starting team, earning himself the official award for Man of the Match.
There was no stopping Ireland, with the side adding one more try to the scoresheet before the end of the game. Fresh on the field, Rónan Kelleher strongly got through two Fijian players and placed the ball over the line while being taken down by Peni Matawalu. It appeared that Matawalu stayed on top of Kelleher for longer than would have been to Craig Casey’s liking, as a quick fight broke out between the two in the aftermath of the try. After thirty seconds of argument, Sam Prendergast failed to get the ball between the posts. Fiji fought to get the ball towards the right end of the pitch but couldn’t get their consolation, with the game finishing 52-17.
This will no doubt be a welcome return to form for Ireland, with this being the first convincing performance of the Autumn Nations Series.
A strong performance all-round saw Andy Farrell’s men face no real threat of loss from Fiji. Still, a defensive performance that could see improvement and another game with over 15 penalties against Ireland leaves the team with areas to look at before next week’s game against Australia.
Full time at the Aviva Stadium. Ireland 52. Fiji 17.