The Ireland Select XV ran in four second half tries to run out comfortable 38-3 winners over a determined Connacht side at Donnybrook on Thursday.
Connacht were still in touch at half-time, trailing 14-3 after recovering from a brace of tries from Irish second rows Mick O’Driscoll and Leo Cullen.
But there was no stopping the Ireland selection’s backs after the break as Geordan Murphy, Fergus McFadden, Ian Keatley and Denis Hurley added further tries in front of a 3,168-strong crowd.
The peformance of a number of individuals will have given Declan Kidney and his fellow coaches more food for thought ahead of Monday’s announcement of the Rugby World Cup squad.
With Shane Jennings required as additional cover for Saturday’s Test against France, Niall Ronan was brought into the Irish back row and Chris Henry was called up to the replacements bench.
Connacht were first to threaten, with out-half Niall O’Connor leading a couple of early attacks, but Ireland secured turnover ball and kicked clear in sunny and dry conditions.
O’Connor’s opposite number and former Ulster team-mate, Paddy Wallace, knocked on after the men in green signalled their intent by turning down a kickable penalty.
McFadden, playing on the left wing, made a midfield break which led to Ireland’s opening try on the quarter hour mark. O’Driscoll was the man to finish the move off from close range, and Wallace, who was involved in the build-up, added the conversion.
Barely three minutes later, Ireland were over again. This time Connacht’s young full-back Tiernan O’Halloran had to run a deft kick through from Wallace into touch. The alert McFadden ripped the ball free and took a quick lineout, sending Cullen in from five metres out.
Wallace landed the left-sided conversion for a 14-0 advantage. The quick-fire tries showed the potential of this hungry Irish side, however Connacht had competed well from the first whistle.
The westerners, with Samoan Henry Fa’afili proving a handful at centre, quickly barged back into scoring range.
Their consistent scrum, aided by powerful props Rodney Ah You and Dylan Rogers, kept the pressure on Ireland and captain John Muldoon was denied a try by Johne Murphy’s last-gasp tackle.
O’Connor salvaged something from Connacht’s bright spell with a well-struck penalty, and George Naoupu, Michael Swift and newcomer Michael Kearney were certainly enjoying the physical exchanges up front.
O’Connor and Wallace both missed penalties as the first half came to a close with neither side threatening the try-line, leaving the margin at 11 points.
Tellingly, Ireland raised the tempo in the early part of the second half and really took the game to Connacht. Credit to Eric Elwood’s men, they kept their try-line intact after McFadden’s quick tap penalty sparked a flurry of Irish attacks.
Connacht held out until good feet and hands from Darren Cave set up a scoring chance for Murphy to the left of the posts and the fit-again full-back, running a good inside line, took it with aplomb. Wallace missed the conversion.
Muldoon and Adrian Flavin typified the commitment of this new-look Connacht side and experienced flanker Johnny O’Connor was added to the mix as the hour mark approached.
The fourth Irish try arrived in the 64th minute when Wallace’s long pass played McFadden in and the successful conversion from Wallace stretched the lead to 26-3.
Connacht maintained their discipline in defence but some lapses were ruthlessly punished by the Ireland backs, who were sparked by some creative touches from Wallace, Murphy and Cave.
The try of the night came when Cave and McFadden spearheaded a long range break and although Mark McCrea tackled him, McFadden managed to offload for the supporting Keatley to dive over and score against his former team-mates.
It was a superb counter attack and Wallace followed up with his fourth conversion of the night from out wide. The benches were emptied over the closing quarter and Ireland mustered a sixth and final try from replacement winger Hurley.
With replacement Marcus Horan having an influence at scrum time, Ireland won back possession after Connacht had been on the front foot.
Conor Murray, who replaced Isaac Boss at scrum half, ran a penalty and five fluid phases later, the half-backs and Murphy combined to put the strong-running Hurley over.
Tony Buckley, Donncha Ryan and Denis Leamy all carried well in the lead-up to the score from their Munster colleague.
Ireland’s superior distribution and ability to create and finish opportunities helped them push clear of the provincial outfit, after a well-contested opening 40 minutes.
Overall it was another good workout for Ireland and for some players, an important step towards securing a seat on the plane bound for New Zealand at the end of the month.
TIME LINE: 14 minutes – Ireland Select XV try: Mick O’Driscoll – 5-0; conversion: Paddy Wallace – 7-0; 17 mins – Ireland Select XV try: Leo Cullen – 12-0; conversion: Paddy Wallace – 14-0; 21 mins – Connacht penalty: Niall O’Connor – 14-3; 35 mins – Connacht penalty: missed by Niall O’Connor – 14-3; 40+1 mins – Ireland Select XV penalty: missed by Paddy Wallace – 14-3; Half-time – Ireland Select XV 14 Connacht 3; 48 mins – Ireland Select XV try: Geordan Murphy – 19-3; conversion: missed by Paddy Wallace – 19-3; 64 mins – Ireland Select XV try: Fergus McFadden – 24-3; conversion: Paddy Wallace – 26-3; 66 mins – Ireland Select XV try: Ian Keatley – 31-3; conversion: Paddy Wallace – 33-3; 77 mins – Ireland Select XV try: Denis Hurley – 38-3; conversion: missed by Paddy Wallace – 38-3; Full-time – Ireland Select XV 38 Connacht 3
IRELAND SELECT XV: Geordan Murphy (Leicester Tigers); Johne Murphy (Young Munster/Munster), Darren Cave (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster), Ian Keatley (Munster), Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster); Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster), Isaac Boss (Terenure College/Leinster); Tony Buckley (Sale Sharks), Sean Cronin (Leinster), John Hayes (Bruff/Munster), Mick O’Driscoll (Cork Constitution/Munster), Leo Cullen (Blackrock College/Leinster) (capt), Kevin McLaughlin (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Niall Ronan (Shannon/Munster), Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Replacements used: Denis Hurley (Cork Constitution/Munster) for J Murphy (28 mins), Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster) for Boss (47), Marcus Horan (Shannon/Munster) for Hayes (50), Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster) for Cullen, Chris Henry (Ballymena/Ulster) for Ronan (both 61), Ian Whitten (Ballymena/Ulster) for Keatley, Damien Varley (Garryowen/Munster) for Cronin (both 73).
CONNACHT: Tiernan O’Halloran; Mark McCrea, Eoin Griffin, Henry Fa’afili, Brian Tuohy; Niall O’Connor, Paul O’Donohoe; Dylan Rogers, Adrian Flavin, Rodney Ah You, Michael Swift, Michael Kearney, John Muldoon (capt), Ray Ofisa, George Naoupu.
Replacements used: Thomas Anderson for Kearney (49 mins), Matthew Jarvis for O’Halloran, Johnny O’Connor for Ofisa (both 55), Ethienne Reynecke for Flavin, Denis Buckley for Rogers, Tiernan O’Halloran for Tuohy (all 66), James Loxton for McCrea (68), David Moore for O’Donohoe (74).
Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (IRFU)
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