Two tries for Earls in Ireland Romp

Keith Earls scored two tries, Johnny Sexton kicked seven from seven, as Ireland won 41-6 against a fairly limited Fijian side in the RDS.

Ireland took the lead with a Sexton penalty after 8 minutes and extended that lead from a scrum ten metres out when Brian O’Driscoll acted as a decoy for Earls to come off his wing and score left of the posts.

Fijian out-half Nicky Little got his side on the board with a 26th minute penalty and the visitors best chance of a try came when they won a five metre scrum in the 37th minute. However the Irish pack simply blew them off the put-in and shortly after, Ireland should have had a second try when Sexton broke clear from his own 22. His pass found O’Driscoll who in turn sent Gordon D’Arcy clear. D’Arcy however squandered the opportunity with a poor pass to Shane Horgan with the Fijian line at his mercy.

The final action of the half saw Sexton convert a penalty conceded by a Fijian defence in total disarray.

The early period of the second half was dominated by the visitors who scored first when Little was on the mark with a penalty after just three minutes. However, the lead-up to that award saw Denis Leamy stretchered off with what looked like a serious leg injury.

Whatever momentum the Fijians might have gained from that early Little score was reversed two minutes later when the burly Fijian number 10  threw a ridiculous pass that O’Driscoll intercepted to skate home under the posts.

From then on it simply became a case of how much Ireland would win by as the Fijians posed no threat outside of the players numbered one to eight.

From a scrum in midfield 15 metres out, Tomas O’Leary, a 54th minute replacement for Eoin Reddan, went left and good hands from O’Driscoll and D’Arcy gave Earls a free pass to the line.

There were further scores from Rob Kearney and Shane Horgan, each scored out wide, and each converted by Jonathan Sexton.