Ireland v Fiji: Five takeaways as Sam Prendergast lives up to the ‘big billing’ while visitors’ ‘bone-shuddering display’ undone by sorry stats
Ireland celebrate Gus McCarthy try against Fiji at the Aviva Stadium.
Following Ireland’s 52-17 victory over Fiji, here are our takeaways from the Autumn Nations Series clash at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
The top line
Ireland put Fiji away at a canter as they scored eight tries to two, putting 50 points on the Pacific Islanders in a cold Aviva Stadium.
Ireland’s tries came from Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier, Craig Casey, Mack Hansen (2) Bundee Aki, Gus McCarthy and Ronan Kelleher as Fiji’s defence simply fell apart under the pressure and speed of the flowing Irish passing.
With Andy Farrell using this fixture to experiment with new combinations, he saw McCarthy score on debut, Sam Prendergast delivering some nice touches in a mixed bag at 10, whilst Casey and Cormac Izuchukwu certainly vindicated the faith shown in them by the selectors.
Fiji looked like a side at the end of a long season and tour, lacking the structural accuracy we’ve been used to seeing from them in recent times and, as their discipline and tackle count fell apart, they were lucky only to ship 50 points as there’s little doubt had Ireland been a little more efficient with ball in hand then they could have scored two or three more tries out there.
Old masters
There’s no doubt that with open space to run into, Van der Flier and Doris are both masters of attacking rugby with the ball in hand and the two veteran back-rowers, both of whom scored tries, had an absolutely field day with ball in hand, and, to a lesser extent, around the contact area where they both caused chaos.
Van der Flier enjoyed a memorable personal duel with the Fijian openside Kitione Salawa, who was easily one of the most impressive visitors, his industry in defence setting up a lineout at the other end of the pitch which he himself drove over to finish off.
With the other more senior members of the Irish team, Tadhg Beirne, Hansen, Robbie Henshaw and Aki all enjoying a romp around the open spaces with the directness of the Irish running causing havoc in the Fijian primary line. Ireland identified cleverly the narrowness of the Fijian defence and they used long and powerful primary miss-passing to maintain as much width on the ball as possible.
The back-rowers’ tries were augmented by two from Hansen, a solo run in from Aki and a lovely close-range effort from Casey as Ireland’s policy of playing experienced Test performers on either side of players just coming into the side paid dividends.
Ireland run in eight tries to hammer Fiji as Sam Prendergast and debutant impress
Sam Prendergast
The young Irish fly-half has a big billing to live up to and judged on his performance today, the promise is there but the concentration is something to work on.
It started so well, with raking touch finders and some beautiful glimpse of his handling skills but amongst the tinsel, there were some howlers – a couple of kicks directly into touch and then a moment of madness when the fly-half was carded for a lazy shoulder to the head of the Fijian carrier, a card that on another day may have seen an upgrade due to the fact that it was an act of foul play and therefore has no ability to be mitigated down.
Nevertheless, the Leinster half-back came out of the day very much in credit, a clear demonstration of the competition Ireland are building in the 10 shirt.
His partner at nine, Casey is a player that is key for Farrell. With the age profiles of Jamison Gibson-Park and Conor Murray both on the wrong side of 32, Ireland’s depth at nine is thinner than elsewhere and Casey’s fusion of breaks around the fringes, passing continuity and intelligent kicking really put a mark on this match as he ran nine carries for 90 metres and generally marshalled everything perfectly from the base of the scrum.
Discipline and defence
Fiji aren’t a team noted for tight structure and system plays. They’re a brilliantly intuitive team who play rugby naturally, but in recent times their progression and improvement has been a result of getting the basics right – set-piece, discipline and defence.
However, in this game all three elements of Fijian focus fell apart under pressure. Firstly, their lineout gave them no return whatsoever – four throws overcooked to such an extent they landed nearer the Irish fly-half than they did a visiting lineout jumper, and on a number of occasions when Fiji had a banker lineout to retain possession and build pressure, their basic skills crumbled and let them down.
Their defensive inaccuracies also caused their discipline to fail the stress test. The system simply seemed to be absent, relying on one-on-one scramble skills than any system, and when Ireland got the ball past their centres, the space they had to run into was huge. As the defensive line failed, so pressure arrived at the breakdown where Fiji were desperately trying to resource rucks whilst retreating and the litany of penalties they conceded (19) gave them no hope of recovering.
However, whilst the overall picture was dismal, a word for Josua Tuisova who hit six massively dominant tackles in a bone-shuddering display from the big centre, and also grabbed three turnovers to complete a fine day.
For a side that’s improved so much in these key areas, to see them abdicate their structures and systems were disappointing, but don’t denude the pressure Ireland mounted to force the errors – they were relentless in ruck competition and composed in handling structure and the pace they managed to get onto the ball was simply too much for the inaccurate Fijians.
Statistical round-up
The game in numbers makes some sorry reading for the Flying Fijians. 18 penalties played six, a mark of the Pacific Islanders’ shocker in their discipline. Fiji missed 34 tackles with a tackle completion rate of just 79%, a woeful return and a clear illustration of just how their system fell apart under pressure.
At the lineout, Fiji only managed a 67% return on their own ball and although Fiji shaded the scrum battle, the breakdown was a different matter where Ireland recorded a monstrous 339 post-contact metres, a clear illustration of how reliant Fiji were on their scramble efforts in defence.
However, the persona statistical honours must go to Aki – he hammered four line breaks, 16 tackles, 17 massive carries and grabbed a turnover for good measure to go with his try as he claimed the player of the match award in a brilliant personal effort.
