'Awful' Ireland overpower ill-disciplined Fiji
Sports
'Awful' Ireland overpower ill-disciplined Fiji
DUBLIN (Reuters) - A sloppy Ireland recorded a fairly routine 35-17 win over an ill-disciplined Fiji side on Saturday in a performance coach Andy Farrell described as "awful" following the highs of last week s victory over South Africa.
After Kalaveti Ravouvou provided an early scare with a typically slick Fijian try, Ireland s well-drilled forwards took control of the first half with flanker Nick Timoney going over twice followed by Ulster team mate Robert Baloucoune.
But the hosts failed to push on when Albert Tuisue was sent off five minutes into the second half and Fiji kept in touch, even when they were down to 13 men. Simione Kuruvoli grabbed the score of the game either side of Irish tries from Mack Hansen and Cian Healy.
"I thought we were awful, I thought we were poor, we didn t have much continuity. We ll sit down now and understand the reasons why," Farrell, who made nine changes from last week s 19-16 win, said.
"Fair play to Fiji, going down to 13 men, they were resilient but the amount of chances that didn t convert into points was pretty disappointing for us."
It looked briefly like Farrell was in for an even less straightforward afternoon when Fiji, impressive in the first half of last week s defeat by Scotland, went seamlessly from one wing to the other for Ravouvou to score on four minutes.
Ireland s game plan of leaning on their superior pack became glaringly obvious soon after and reaped its rewards on 15 minutes when Timoney scored the first of two well-executed forwards tries.
The Ulster flanker, one of the new men handed the chance to impress, got his second when Fiji were reduced to 14 players with Baloucoune s simple third coming before Manasa Saulo returned from the sin bin.
Tuisue s red card for a dangerous tackle that knocked Joey Carbery out of the game looked like the cue for the floodgates to open, especially when Apisalome Ratuniyarawa joined him on the sidelines for another infringement.
But it took a lacklustre Ireland until the hour to add to the scoreboard and even then Hansen s try was quickly cancelled out when replacement Kuruvoli was put through by a superb backhanded offload from Jiuta Wainiqolo.
By the time Healy grabbed try number five, Ireland had conceded almost as many penalties as Fiji, adding to Farrell s dismay.
However, Fiji s non-existent discipline - following on from the three yellow cards conceded in Edinburgh last week - had long cost the game of any intrigue.
Ireland will welcome the likes of captain Johnny Sexton back for next week s final November test again Australia, seeking to cement their place on top of the world rankings with a 12th successive home win.
