IRELAND FLY BY EAGLES
Winger Conway scores three tries as squad men grab big chance to shine
IF JOE SCHMIDT, as expected, announces tomorrow that he will not be extending his Ireland contract beyond next year’s World Cup, his legacy is well set.
Indeed, whoever succeeds Schmidt will have access to an unprecedented breadth of talent with an age profile and attitude that has the capacity to establish Ireland at the elite end of the game for years to come.
Last night was never going to live up to what had taken place here seven days previously – this was the tangy sorbet after the slow roasted, satisfying lamb shank that was the monumental win over New Zealand.
It was a far from perfect Irish performance but the US are well coached under Gary Gold and, on a run of nine straight Test wins, they came with confidence. It may have gradually evaporated in the second half but putting 50 points on this American team was a decent night’s work and a worthy way to round off what has been a superb month.
In terms of what it told us about Schmidt’s wider squad, the big winners were Andrew Conway and Ross Byrne.
Conway was sensational, lethally dangerous every time he touched the ball and he will push Keith Earls hard for a starting place on the wing come the Six Nations – or possibly as an alternative to Rob Kearney at 15 down the line.
Meanwhile, Byrne, when he arrived on the pitch earlier than expected slotted in at 10 with ease and assurance that strengthened the belief that he may be the most suitable stand-in for Johnny Sextons should that need arise.
It was hard on Carbery (inset), the designated Sexton back-up, who had made a good start only to be switched to full-back to accommodate Byrne in a replica of what used to take place in his Leinster days.
But Carbery’s talent is hard to suppress, and he did well at 15 also, to further the option widening in the Ireland backline under Schmidt.
Elsewhere, captain Rhys Ruddock and No 8 Jack Conan were impressive and the scrum played a big part in Ireland pulling away in the second half but the overall sense was that, even though Schmidt may not do much to change the established first choice team that stunned the All Blacks – should the need arise there is real quality to come in. And that has been Schmidt’s mission ever since the 2015 World Cup quarter-final loss to Argentina when injuries ripped the heart out of the Irish challenge. That and the establishing of a winning culture – the self-belief to extract results by sticking to systems and breaking opponents down even when not playing well. Ireland have shown that ability throughout November and 11 months out from Japan 2019, the evidence already suggests there is enough depth there to prevent any repeat of what happened against Argentina in Cardiff the last time. The attacking ambition has also expanded in the last three years and, from the kick-off, Ireland immediately went into Kinsale Sevens mode and were rewarded with a superb try from Conway after a few minutes. We do not associate Ruddock with searing breaks and Phil Bennett sidesteps so it was quite a shock to the system to see him scorch clear, bamboozle a US defender and then slip a perfectly timed pass to Conway. Carbery converted for 7-0 but the Americans took advantage of some loose defence for the prolific Joe Taufete’e to power over for his 14th try in just 19 Tests, Will Magie converting for 7-7.
Yet Ireland restored their lead on 16 minutes, with excellent running from Garry Ringrose and sharp hands from Beirne and Will Addison putting Conway over for his second.
Again, Gold’s men refused to be disheartened and used their bulk effectively to secure a penalty try after Iain Henderson was yellow carded for bringing down the maul illegally. At 14-14, Ireland realised the need to establish some proper dominance and after Carbery tagged on a penalty, the electric Conway ran a brilliantly angled line to break through again and put Conan over for Ireland’s third – Carbery converting for a 24-14 half-time lead. The second half got off to patchy start, the game delayed for 10 minutes following serious injury to Taufete’e who was taken off by stretcher to be replaced by former Blackrock College student Dylan Fawsitt. It did nothing to help the US at scrum time, Ireland putting the squeeze on in a big way through a succession of scrums which ended with a try under the posts for Beirne, converted by Carbery.
Ireland were now well on top and Byrne was buzzing at 10, beautifully executing a cross-field kick for Stuart McCloskey to touch down, with Carbery missing the convert. Then it was substitute Quinn Roux’s turn, barrelling over for the home side’s sixth touchdown, Carbery adding the extras for 43-14.
Conway raced away again to selflessly send Luke McGrath over only to be called back for a forward pass by Cian Healy. No matter, a few minutes later, Ringrose set up on a wonderful, cruising run, including expertly timed dummy to take him past a host of US defenders and put Conway over for his hat-trick.
Carbery added another conversion for 50-14 before sub prop John Ryan brought proceedings to a close after good work by Munster colleague Sam Arnold.
And that was that. The scoreline may not reflect it but the US did well, with flanker Hanco Germishuys particularly impressive. So, to put 57 points on this side was a decent evening’s work and testament to the work done by Schmidt.