Fergus McFadden completed his hat-trick of tries in injury-time as Ireland brought their international season to a close with a satisfying 40-14 win over Canada on Saturday night.
Although wingers Andrew Trimble and Fergus McFadden both crossed for his first half tries, Canada were only 12-9 behind at the break as James Pritchard’s haul of three penalties saw him eclipse Gareth Rees as the hosts’ record points scorer.
An unconverted try from Tyler Ardron, seven minutes into the second half, increased the pressure on Les Kiss’ Ireland as they fell behind for the third time in the match.
But they went on to dominate the closing half hour in impressive fashion with tries from Darren Cave, McFadden (2) and Tommy O’Donnell sealing a runaway 26-point victory.
Cave and O’Donnell both claimed their first international tries, while livewire winger McFadden’s three-try haul was the most scored by an Ireland player in a capped match since Denis Hickie ran four past Italy in a 2003 Rugby World Cup warm-up match.
Ireland’s last hat-trick in a Test match was scored by Kevin Maggs against Fiji in November 2002, and McFadden’s performance was praised by interim head coach Kiss afterwards.
“Fergus is just one of those players you want to have around your team. He is such a great character. What he brings to a team in terms of energy and enthusiasm is sensational,” he said.
“If he doesn’t get selected he is still the same person. He has an uncanny ability to score tries at international level.
“Last week he shipped an injury in the game (against the US) and he toughed his way through it. He trained through a bit of injury this week and got a knock in the game again but just keeps powering on. I can’t speak highly enough about him and the way he played.”
It was a memorable night for Ireland’s wide men with Trimble leading Ireland out at the BMO Stadium on the occasion of his 50th senior cap.
In his first outing for Ireland since last November, the industrious Trimble seized upon an early opportunity to run in his 12th international try and he was one of eight Ulstermen who got game-time in the end.
Canada were battle hardened and brimming with confidence after three recent Pacific Nations Cup wins. They took a seventh minute lead when Pritchard punished Tom Court for not releasing the tackled player.
The extra week’s training was evident as Devin Toner provided a steady lineout platform and half-backs Ian Madigan and Isaac Boss tried to work openings around the fringes.
Canada were typically abrasive in their approach, showing huge commitment in the tackle and maintaining a high defensive line that thwarted Ireland until Trimble crashed over in the right corner with 10 minutes gone.
A Toner-won lineout allowed Madigan chip over the top for his Leinster team-mate McFadden to collect on the run. The ball was swiftly recycled and Felix Jones injected some pace on the right, following passes from Madigan and debutant James Downey, with the full-back sending Trimble past Taylor Paris to score out wide.
Madigan did well to add the conversion before the Canadian forwards showed well in the contact area again, one example being second row Jebb Sinclair’s bone-crunching hit on Jones.
The 23-year-old Peter O’Mahony, Ireland’s youngest captain of the professional era, was also relishing the physical battle and every ruck was fiercely competed for with referee Leighton Hodges having to keep an eagle eye on proceedings.
But a run of penalties – there were six conceded during the first half – proved costly for the Irish as a place-kicker of Pritchard’s quality finds the posts more often than not.
The Bedford Blues clubman landed two more penalties in the 18th and 25th minutes, the first after Ireland were caught offside and the latter – making him a record breaker at 494 points – came from an O’Mahony infringement at a ruck.
There were a couple of flashpoints in the second quarter with Canadian scrum half Phil Mack using his boot to remove O’Mahony at a breakdown and tempers flared briefly. It was a similar situation after hookers Ray Barkwill and Richardt Strauss clashed on the ground.
However, O’Mahony and his young team-mates held their composure to regain the lead by the half hour mark. Madigan was the provider, firing away a pinpoint cross-field kick for McFadden to gather, break past Paris and hand off the covering Connor Braid for a well-taken try.
Despite Madigan missing the conversion on the near side, his influence in open play was growing and Ireland cranked it up in attack once more as the out-half fed McFadden and he in turn released O’Donnell for a notable burst.
The big Tipperary man was held up over the try-line during a subsequent maul drive and Kevin McLaughlin unfortunately lost control of the ball as Canada avoided leaking a third try before the interval.
Ireland made a lacklustre start to the second half and although Dan Tuohy and Trimble got their hands on the ball and gained good yardage, a missed Madigan penalty from distance maintained the three-point gap.
The Canadians suddenly shot ahead just four minutes in. Boss delayed at the base of a ruck handing the hosts a scrum from which captain Aaron Carpenter sent Mack scurrying away down the right wing.
Kieran Crowley’s men kept up the momentum and after Carpenter was stopped just short of the line, the ball was swiftly transferred for flanker Ardron to muscle his way over from a metre out. Pritchard was unable to convert at 14-12.
Coming under increasing pressure, with Taylor Paris the next player to make an incision, Ireland thankfully found an extra gear to create a 55th try for Ulster centre Cave.
Munster duo Downey and Jones popped up attack as Ireland got over the gain-line. McLaughlin had a crucial role in the try. The big flanker sliced clean through the Canadian midfield and neatly drew in a defender as he passed for the supporting Cave to cover the final 20 metres to the posts.
Even better followed four minutes later as the tigerish Tuohy swatted away Ciaran Hearn’s challenge, Toner was in support and he did very well to connect with McFadden for the winger’s second of the night. Madigan converted both tries, putting 12 points between the sides.
The Canadians were tiring at this point and Ireland, boosted by some fresh legs off the bench, went in search of more scores.
After Hearn missed a long range penalty, O’Donnell scooped up a flicked pass from Paul Marshall in centre-field and cantered clear to crown his first start in green with a start. Paddy Jackson, who joined Marshall at half-back for the closing stages, added the extras.
The majority of the 20,396-strong crowd – a record attendance for a rugby match in Canada – were willing the hosts to respond, but Ireland’s persistance was rewarded with a sixth try right at the death.
O’Mahony, whose leadership qualities shone through during that testing second half spell, missed out on a try when he was held up over the line by a combination of Nathan Hirayama and Nanyak Dala.
But Ireland got a good angle on the resulting five-metre scrum, allowing Marshall to release man-of-the-match McFadden who shrugged off Sean White’s attempted tackle to score in the left corner and complete his hat-trick.
It was a very positive finish to the night for O’Mahony and his team-mates – Jackson added the touchline conversion for good measure – as they made it two wins out of two on their tour of North America.
TIME LINE: 7 minutes – Canada penalty: James Pritchard – 3-0; 10 mins – Ireland try: Andrew Trimble – 3-5; conversion: Ian Madigan – 3-7; 18 mins – Canada penalty: James Pritchard – 6-7; 25 mins – Canada penalty: James Pritchard – 9-7; 28 mins – Ireland try: Fergus McFadden – 9-12; conversion: missed by Ian Madigan – 9-12; Half-time – Canada 9 Ireland 12; 44 mins – Ireland penalty: missed by Ian Madigan – 9-12; 47 mins – Canada try: Tyler Ardron – 14-12; conversion: missed by James Pritchard – 14-12; 55 mins – Ireland try: Darren Cave – 14-17; conversion: Ian Madigan – 14-19; 59 mins – Ireland try: Fergus McFadden – 14-24; conversion: Ian Madigan – 14-26; 64 mins – Canada penalty: missed by Ciaran Hearn – 14-26; 68 mins – Ireland try: Tommy O’Donnell – 14-31; conversion: Paddy Jackson – 14-33; 80+1 mins – Ireland try: Fergus McFadden – 14-38; conversion: Paddy Jackson – 14-40; Full-time – Canada 14 Ireland 40
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