Ian Keatley’s brace of penalties in the final quarter of an hour closed out a hard-earned 23-20 win for Ireland against a physical Fijian outfit, with Joe Schmidt’s much-changed team prevailing despite a pockmarked performance.
The second GUINNESS Series Test brought another sell-out crowd to the Aviva Stadium, and tries from wingers Darren Sweetnam and Dave Kearney, and a third from number 8 Jack Conan, had Ireland leading 17-3 as half-time approached.
Joey Carbery showed some classy touches in attack, but Fiji’s ability to convert turnovers into quick-fire scores saw them draw level early in the second half. Henry Seniloli, set up by Nemani Nadolo, and Timoci Nagusa, who intercepted a pass from Kearney, both touched down either side of the break.
17-all was then 20 points apiece after replacement Ian Keatley and Ben Volavola swapped penalties, but Ireland’s experienced bench helped them see out a narrow victory thanks to Keatley’s decisive 72nd-minute strike which punished a high tackle on the impressive Cian Healy.
While disappointed with the obvious breakdown issues, handling errors and the scores coughed up, head coach Joe Schmidt was still pleased with the manner in which his young and largely inexperienced side, which was captained by Rhys Ruddock and included debutant centre Chris Farrell, overcame the Fijians in testing circumstances.
“We took some chances tonight and we knew that before we kicked off. It wasn’t just that (inexperience in the team). It was that amount of changes in the space of a week, that does make it really difficult, but you breathe a sigh of relief at the end of it and you move on to next week,” he said afterwards.
“Sometimes it’s just about finding a way. We looked like we lacked a bit of cohesion, but the players were working hard. The first quarter, we did really well – Joey (Carbery) was a bit special the way he cut the line and got that pass into the hands of Darren Sweetnam who finished comfortably.
“At 17 -3 before half-time, I was really happy we had worked our way to that. Then the lineout on their 22 got turned over and they got away down that touchline. Suddenly it’s 17-10 and you feel a bit of that pressure, especially when it’s a young side.
“That was great for us. It’s exactly what we wanted, but we didn’t want it in a lot of ways. We wanted to see the players react under pressure and when it went to 17-all and 20-all, again they really had to find a way.
“We stayed calm enough to control that last 10 minutes, Ian Keatley did a really good job, he came in and kicked those two penalties to win it. There’s certainly frustration but there’s never anger when you put that effort into it. It’s just to learn from that experience.
“While it’s frustrating right now, we’re still delighted to get the win. I don’t think we’ll get buried under the negatives because there are some positives in there. Fiji are ranked where they’re ranked because they’ve got good results, there’s less between the teams than you think.”
It was a bruising battle with the world’s ninth-ranked team and play-maker Carbery unfortunately emerged as the main casualty, as Schmidt explained; “I think Joey has fractured his left forearm. It’s not displaced as far as I know, and we’ll update it on Monday. I can’t absolutely confirm it but that appears to be the case. That will mean he won’t take any further part in the series for us. He’s brave to a fault.”
There was an early glimpse of just how competitive Fiji would prove to be when Dominiko Waqaniburotu and Nemani Nagusa deprived Kieran Marmion of clean ball at the back of the game’s first maul and scrum, inside the Irish 22.
Ever threatening on the counter, the Fijians used a missed touch kick from Marmion to attack out wide and Sweetnam’s tackle on Nadolo was enough to force a forward pass from the imposing winger, who had Seniloli up in support and lurking for a possible try.
Jordi Murphy, playing his first international since last November, locked onto a breakdown ball to win a fourth-minute penalty and send Ireland into the Fijian half for the first time. A midfield wraparound led to Carbery clipping a kick through for Sweetnam to chase, as the hosts exerted some territorial pressure.
The creation of Ireland’s opening sixth-minute try was all about Carbery, who stepped off his right to split the Fijian defence, breaking into the 22 and using his footwork to evade Kini Murimurivalu before flinging a pinpoint pass out for Sweetnam to go over untouched in the right corner. The out-half missed the posts with the 42-metre conversion attempt.
Jale Vatubua soon showed his class in defence and attack, catching Carbery with a thumping tackle and then playing a key role in a dangerous surge up the left wing after Sweetnam, who was on a high after his first Test try, had kicked too long. Ireland were much more cohesive in a set of 12 phases that had Marmion five metres out from the Fijian whitewash, with Farrell, Murphy and Rob Herring all carrying strongly.
However, good counter-rucking from the visitors won turnover ball. Ireland’s penalty count increased due to sealing off by Farrell and then a collective offside from a miscued Marmion kick, with number 10 Volavola opening Fiji’s account with a well-struck 20th-minute penalty from the right.
Ireland had breakdown issues to iron out, as the Fijians numbered up intelligently in pursuit of turnovers. Nonetheless, a tackle-breaking run from Stuart McCloskey got the men in green back on track, and both he and man-of-the-match Andrew Conway then drew in the defenders to send Kearney over in the left corner, past Nagusa. The Leinster winger’s first try since the 2015 Rugby World Cup went unconverted.
Ultan Dillane and Conan gave Fiji a taste of their own medicine, countering at a ruck for McCloskey to pinch possession on the deck and he got his hands free in a subsequent double tackle, but his attempted offload was not read by Kearney.
It was the latter who had a 32nd minute try ruled out for a prior knock-on from Conway in the air, McCloskey hacking on the loose ball and Nadolo – under pressure from Farrell – failing to gather it before Kearney collected his own kick to score.
However, just a couple of phases after that disallowed try, number 8 Conan gobbled up a dropped Fijian pass just inside halfway and accelerated away to touch down wide on the right. Carbery right-footed the conversion through the uprights to take Ireland’s all-time points tally in Test rugby to 10,000, but Fiji made sure they had the final say before the interval.
A costly penalty against Sweetnam, who went in off his feet at a ruck, spoiled some promising work on the ball by the jinking Carbery and the hard-carrying McCloskey, while Dillane was also busy getting over the gain-line. Ireland were set to see out the first half on the front foot, courtesy of a well-won Ruddock penalty, but Dillane fumbled a short lineout and Fiji countered to devastating effect.
With Carbery shooting up in defence, Fiji managed to work some numbers on the left and Nadolo gathered his own left-footed kick on the hoof to break Conway’s attempted tackle and charge up to the Irish 22 where he supplied the scoring pass for scrum half Seniloli to dive in under the posts. Volavola’s simple conversion left just seven points between the sides (17-10).
Although it was a scrappy start to the second period, some incisive interplay started by Conway saw Sweetnam and Marmion both tiptoe up the right touchline, suddenly creating a try-scoring opportunity for the latter but Volavola’s diving tackle forced the scampering scrum half into touch, just 10 metres out.
Shortly afterwards, Ireland were back behind their own posts after Kearney’s pass, as Ireland countered from a Nadolo kick, was well read by former Ulster winger Nagusa who juggled it and then ran the 40-plus metres to dot down behind the posts and Volavola supplied the levelling conversion at 17-all.
Farrell led Ireland’s response with a solid burst off the platform of a scrum, only for Fiji captain Akapusi Qera to pressurise Jack McGrath into holding on after being tackled and the South Sea Islanders were able to clear their lines from the penalty.
Soon they were threatening to go ahead on the scoreboard, a Farrell knock-on in contact sparking some high-quality Fijian passing and Conway produced a vital try-saving tackle to deny Nagusa as he hared towards the right corner.
Tadhg Furlong, who entered the fray as part of an all-new front row, won an immediate scrum penalty to lift the hosts. There was better play in attack too as they went the direct route through Dillane, tireless skipper Ruddock and lively replacement Healy who shrugged off Niko Matawalu on one memorable carry.
Poor ball protection from Ireland continued to let Fiji off the hook, and the injury-enforced loss of Carbery, who damaged his arm in a heavy tackle from Peni Ravai on the hour mark, robbed them of their main attacking spark from the opening 40 minutes.
A Murphy steal almost led to a try but Conway’s kick chase, which saw him fly past the covering Qera, was foiled by the ball bouncing off the corner flag and into touch. Ireland duly retook the lead with 15 minutes remaining, CJ Stander taking over the captaincy and opting for the posts after Waqaniburotu infringed at a maul. Keatley fired over the 29-metre kick for a 20-17 scoreline.
Further Irish mistakes allowed Fiji to stay in contention, touch, as Dillane failed to collect in the restart and Murphy gave away a soft penalty for offside. Volavola was successful from the tee to square things up again, before Keatley snapped back those three points with the match-winning kick – punishing Fijian full-back Murimurivalu for a dangerous tackle on Healy.
The Leinster loosehead was right in the thick of the action. He looked like he was not held in the tackle as he bounced up off the turf twice to scramble over for what would have been a superb solo try. However, New Zealand referee Paul Williams thought otherwise and penalised Healy for not releasing.
A final try was not needed as Ireland, with their bench emptied, showed the necessary composure to see out a tight result. Kieran Treadwell was first in to tackle Nadolo and force an error as he chased Luke McGrath’s contestable kick, and it was the latter who kicked the ball dead after three final scrums, including one courtesy of a free-kick, had run down the clock.
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