Kidney's Irish whitewash the Cannucks
Sat, 08 Nov 2008 21:46
It was a bright start for Ireland's new coaching panel, as the men from the Emerald Isle brushed aside a ordinary Canadian challenge to run away 55-0 winners at a wet Thomond Park in Limerick on Saturday.
The eight-tries-to-nil whitewash was the perfect welcome to Declan Kidney and his coaching staff - which includes South Africa's World Cup-winning forward coach Gert Smal and Australian defence expert Les Kiss.
The difficult conditions hardly slowed the Irish down, as they showed plenty of endeavour and adventure, and the signs are good for an Irish outfit looking to rediscover the form that once made them world beaters.
The Irish got out the blocks quickly and in the third minute debutant Keith Earls started his international career with a strong run to finish a sweeping move.
The Canadians also did not help their own cause with a string of early penalties.
Ronan O'Gara slotted one of those as the Irish raced into a 10-0 lead inside seven minutes.
Such was Ireland's dominance that their second try came in the 13th minute. James Pritchard seemed to have an O'Gara grubber covered, but a half-hack from Earls saw the ball skid into the in-goal area and Rob Kearney was the quickest to react.
At this stage the heavens opened and even though the game became more fragmented, the Irish's dominance was just the same.
Ireland's third try came from a powerful Jamie Heaslip drive off the base of a five metre scrum.
However, their fourth try belied the conditions, with Luke Fitzgerald making a telling break that forced the Canadian defence to cough up yet another penalty. From there it was all down to Eoin Reddan's vision - spotting Kearney on his own out wide - and his weighted kick found the Leinster man with ease.
Tommy Bowe's try completed the first half action, and, just in case there was any doubt, put the result past Canada.
With a host of changes at the break, from both sides, the second half was slow to get going.
However, Ireland soon found their rhythm again they began to demonstrate the gulf in class.
It took a moment of individual brilliance from Bowe, breaking the defensive line before offloading to David Wallace, who streaked over to lift the mood of those drenched in the stands.
There were two more tries, and it was perhaps fitting that Ireland saved their best until last.
Some fine inter-play between Kearney, Bowe and David Wallace afforded Alan Quinlan the luxury of strolling over to bring the fifty up. And then Shane Horgan made a fine run before sending Bowe over for his second.
Man of the Match: As any good flyhalf should Ronan O'Gara dictated terms, while Keith Earls and Rob Kearney also stood out for Ireland. However, we are going to make this a team effort - this award going to the entire Irish team for keeping their structure when things could have gone pear-shaped against weak opposition and in testing conditions.
Moment of the Match: This one is going to debutant fullback Keith Earls's third minute try. He ran a beautiful line to dive in 15 metres out from the posts.
Villain of the Match: There were no villains in his game.
The scorers:
For Ireland:
Tries: Earls, Kearney 2, Heaslip, Bowe 2, D Wallace, Quinlan
Cons: O'Gara 5, P Wallace
Pen: O'Gara
For Canada:
None
Teams:
Ireland: 15 Keith Earls, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (captain), 12 Luke Fitzgerald, 11 Robert Kearney, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Shane Jennings, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Tony Buckley, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements: 16 Rory Best, 17 John Hayes, 18 Alan Quinlan, 19 David Wallace, 20 Peter Stringer, 21 Paddy Wallace, 22 Shane Horgan.
Canada: 15 James Pritchard, 14 Ciaran Hearn, 13 Bryn Keys, 12 Ryan Smith, 11 Justin Mensah-Coker, 10 Ander Monro, 9 Ed Fairhurst, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 Adam Kleeberger, 6 Sean Michael Stephen, 5 Josh Jackson, 4 Mike Burak, 3 Jon Thiel, 2 Pat Riordan (captain), 1 Kevin Tkachuk.
Replacements: 16 Mike Pletch, 17 Frank Walsh, 18 Tyler Hotson, 19 Jebb Sinclair, 20 Morgan Williams, 21 Matt Evans, 22 Phil Mackenzie.
Referee: Christophe Berdos (France)
Touch judges: Nigel Owens (Wales), Carlo Damasco (Italy)
TMO: Giulio De Santis (Italy)
* Are the Irish back on track?
