Ireland coach Declan Kidney praised his team's seven-try win over Argentina at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday.
The Pumas suffered a record 46-24 defeat by Ireland, as the hosts secured their place as a second-tier nation ahead of next month's World Cup draw.
An under-pressure Ireland turned on the style to score seven tries against Santiago Phelan's men, in a comprehensive display that made one question how they had endured such a torrid 2012 to date.
"You never in your wildest dreams think you'll score that number of tries against Argentina," Kidney said.
"If things click then this team is well capable of doing that. Today was one of the good days.
"We didn't get too despondent after the defeat by South Africa two weeks ago and we won't be too disappointed following today.
"This result makes it a whole lot easier to go to training the next time we meet.
"If I say it was the complete performance I'll be out of a job! There's always things to be done."
Jonny Sexton, Craig Gilroy, Simon Zebo and Tommy Bowe stood out for the hosts, and it took two tries in the last five minutes to make the scoreline look less embarrassing for Argentina.
Gilroy especially produced a remarkable Test debut, tormenting Argentina's defence throughout and finishing with a wonderful try.
The 21-year-old was also involved in the build up to three other tries and Kidney admitted the squad's younger brigade had lifted the spirits.
"I've been saying for the last two weeks they've been a pleasure to work with," he said.
"The enthusiasm of the young lads who've come in - not just Craig but some of the others who didn't play - has been infectious.
"We talked about having a go at it and that paid off. We picked off a few good tries and that confidence flowed through the team."
Captain Jamie Heaslip refused to over-hype a result no one predicted in what was Ireland's best performance since beating Australia at last year's World Cup.
"The scoreline flattered us. Sometimes things just click and you get the lucky bounce as well," Heaslip said.
"I'm proud of the effort and professionalism shown by everyone. It was a great shift from this group of players.
"This year there have been plenty of missed opportunities in Tests, so we've been introspective to see what we can change."
Comments
ArmchairGeneral says...
How did this one pop up again. Funny how wrong Rugby Rockstar looks a week later. Surely England have at least a chance.
Posted 11:53 04th December 2012
rugby_rockstar says...
Bodes well for the 6 nations. Especially with France travelling to Dublin.
And France didn't really fire against Samoa either which is also good for the 6n's...
...bit of the french distain for the teams lower than them creeping back into the psyche perhaps?
Maybe not quite as consistant as Phillipe Saint Andre would have liked...? (Thank god!) if it wasn;t for the ireland and france results this weekend then we could have just knocked the 6n's on the head and just asked the WRU to post the trophy to Paris.
Posted 17:04 27th November 2012
blametheref says...
A great result, but what does it really tell us?...It tells us Kidney has got it wrong for far too long and confirms what I've always held that we have good players who if 'allowed' to play can win matches...I would like to see Ireland furious that they didn't beat South Africa...The win against Argentina doesn't justify Kidney keeping his job
Posted 12:46 27th November 2012
damo says...
SackKidney!!!
Alsoget that clown Captain out of the team O'brien back at 8 and we have an all male pack all able to hit and be hit and run and tackle and not afraid of their shadow spending most of the games on the wing!!!
Posted 00:43 26th November 2012
damo says...
SackKidney!!!
Darcys best days are behind him, Trimble was being picked by Dikkie while showing nothing in the jersey Darcy has added nothing to the national side for years except for missing tackles and adding nothing going forward and intercepted passes, Cave needs to be in there!!!!! at 13 with $exy at 12 and ROG at 10 for the 6 nations and if Dopey dekkie does this (have been calling for it since long before the RWC) we would win the 6 nations!!!!! Hesheslip needs to be dropped he is the worst 8 Ireland have had I reckon Ryan/O'maoney/Mccarthy/Henry get some laugh at him doing his hair beore the games!!!! Rob Kearney back and we could try Bowe 13 and zebo 14 with Rob 15 and with $exy at 12 we have an unreal back line with pace all over and the ability to beat players which we will never have with OAP's insisting on touching the ball!!!
Argies were tired after the france game and all the travelling!!!!!
Kidney hasn't picked a good Ireland team yet and he's there ages, Grand slam my Ar$e, If he picked the best team it would be plural 0 Look at the Welsh they are rubbish and have a hand full of them through a half decent manager
Posted 00:41 26th November 2012
melkdave says...
Of course his happy ,most probile saved hs job.Now he has to prove it wasnt a flash in the pan performance,I personnally dont think he can ,and it was .So hopefully gone by end of 6Ns 2013,and by then even Scotland will have appointed someone ,so long rest to recuperate on horizon DK i feel.
Posted 15:34 25th November 2012
DaveJ says...
The annoying thing is occasional good results like this keep Kidney in a job when in fact it should serve the show the IRFU how well we are capable of playing and how Kidney can only get 1 good performance per year out of the team.
Posted 12:49 25th November 2012
J_HDK says...
Don't worry Kidney, we still want you out of the job.
Posted 20:43 24th November 2012