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Ireland boss not celebrating too much

The Boys in Green ran in nine tries to leave the Eagles in a flap at the Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, Keith Earls dotting down twice early on while debutant Jacob Stockdale, hooker Niall Scannell and scrum-half Kieran Marmion also scored in the first period.

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James Ryan was another man to mark his Ireland debut with a try while Jack Conan, Luke McGrath and Simon Zebo all also crossed the whitewash.

"It's a pass mark, first up," said Schmidt.

"This group has worked hard but it's always difficult to put it together.

"The US got into our space really well and made us work hard. I thought we also got to the space quite a few times, particularly Joey [Carbery] – he got to the space with his cross-kicks because they were up and in at us.

"Keith Earls usually wants to get the ball all the time. I think after the first 20 minutes, he didn't want it anymore. He'd already run far enough,"

Leinster star Carbery, who started at flyhalf, was forced off with an ankle injury in the 51st minute and Schmidt says that the 21-year-old will be assessed ahead of Ireland's upcoming pair of Tests against Japan.

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"I think Joey will keep learning from that. For a guy that has played very little at 10 all season, it's very hard to put yourself into what is probably the pressure position and make all the right decisions," said the Ireland chief.

"I thought he made some really good ones and created a fair bit of play for us. He's learning from the things that didn't go so well.

"Joey just sprained his ankle a bit chasing across the pitch. He just went to turn back.

We don't know what the story is yet. It hasn't really swelled too much but it was a bit tender, so we'll see how it settles and maybe get a scan, either here [in the US] or once we've arrived in Tokyo."

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source: rbs6nations.com

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