All things considered, as good as it could get

Ireland 41 Fiji 6:THE HUNGER is palpable and, more than ever, you sense Ireland truly are a squad. Allowing for one or two caveats, this was as impressive a statement about the carefully and cleverly-managed squad system as Ireland could have managed in the circumstances.

The positives outnumbered the negatives. Among the 27 players used over the two autumn games to date, 23 of whom started, there were another three debutants at Test level here.

But perhaps the biggest plus was the performance of Jonathan Sexton. He did all that could have been asked, and plenty more.

It didn’t come as a surprise that Sexton fitted seamlessly into the Irish set-up and performed with such composure and maturity. At 24, he’s had his ups and downs, and had earned this opportunity on the run of good form for months, which in itself suggested he is a pretty cool operator.

All the component parts of Sexton’s game were in excellent order. Not alone did he finish off his near foot-perfect debut by landing three touchline conversions (when, as he admitted, the pressure was off) for a seven-from-seven, 16-point haul, his daring running in open play brought Ireland alive, his line-kicking was monstrous, his distribution smooth and his tackling strong.

Regardless of the opposition, the conditions and the setting, his performance illuminated the gloom. He just keeps looking the real deal.

There were several other good individual performances, though as with Sexton’s, whether any will have been sufficient to dislodge incumbents is unlikely. In finishing off two tries adroitly, Keith Earls confirmed his form and established himself as the favourite to replace the unfortunate Luke Fitzgerald, even if at times boredom might have afflicted him more than hypothermia.

Elsewhere, though, the likes of Tom Court, Leo Cullen, Eoin Reddan and Gordon D’Arcy probably did enough to cement their places in the 22 for the game against South Africa, but no more.

Among the negatives was the injury to Denis Leamy which has created a vacancy in backrow back-up. Here, amid the many impact cameos off the bench, Seán O’Brien may have done enough to earn the call.

The squalls and the proverbial bar of soap made for an ominously messy start. The Fijians looked poorly motivated and, so obsessed were they with the weather and adapting to an uncharacteristic, pick-and-go game, no Fijian side can have played with such little ambition.

They still took some subduing, albeit, ironically, when Nicky Little tried a rare skip pass which Brian O’Driscoll picked off for the killer try.

The 21-point, three-try flurry that ensued in that final quarter was as much the product of the way Ireland had worn Fiji down in the preceding hour, particularly in sustained periods of defending, especially leading up to half-time.

Quite how to place performances against Fiji into the context of front-line Test rugby, especially next week against the world champions, is difficult to say. For example, the problem with the positive impact from the replacements is that the Fijians were clearly wilting in the final quarter.

Furthermore, while the lineout was again first-rate – Jerry Flannery’s darts are nearly always on the money – even the improved work at the breakdown has to be viewed in the context of the opposition.

Ireland were relatively lacking in continuity, and looked their most dangerous when attacking off first, second or at most three phases. But, again, the pernickety refereeing and the conditions were mitigating factors.

But allowing for all that, by far the biggest concern is the scrum. Like the poacher openside, the scrum has had a revival, and its value as an attacking platform for Ireland’s backs was underlined with the opening try – a variation on last week’s equalising try against Australia as Reddan opted to pick out Earls as he came off his wing to ghost through the middle – and by the 8-9-15-14 try with which Shane Horgan completed the scoring.

But it has become a rickety foundation and struggled here against a part-time frontrow with six caps to its name.

The trouble appeared to be on the tighthead side, though it’s possible this was due in part because Court was making hay on the other side.

Even so, while fervently hoping one is wrong, in struggling against a prop from Suva Highlanders who made his debut last week and didn’t exactly have the body shape of a Test rugby player, there were again signs that the phenomenal John Hayes may be wilting. The real hope is that he is suffering for lack of match practice and needs consistent game time to rediscover his best.

Hayes’ replacement, Tony Buckley, was pitted against the more experienced Graham Dewes – Fiji’s match-winner in their epic World Cup win over Wales two years ago – yet looked almost world-class in his carrying and surprisingly soft hands for an artisan.

He was also a one-man defensive wall to deny the Fijians a close-range consolation try, but even then the scrums couldn’t confirm whether he is a frontline Test tight-head in the making. Likewise, nor could Court’s strong showing.

And therein lay the rub. Between the conditions and the opposition, there were too many variables to make anything like definitive judgments.

SCORING SEQUENCE: 9 mins: Sexton pen 3-0; 18: Earls try, Sexton con 10-0; 27: Little pen 10-3; 40: Sexton pen 13-3 (half-time 13-3); 44: Little pen 13-6; 45: O’Driscoll try, Sexton con 20-6; 62: Earls try, Sexton con 27-6; 67: Kearney try, Sexton con 34-6; 76: Horgan try, Sexton con 41-6.

IRELAND: R Kearney (Leinster); S Horgan (Leinster), B O’Driscoll (Leinster, capt), G D’Arcy (Leinster), K Earls (Munster); J Sexton (Leinster), E Reddan (Leinster); T Court (Ulster), J Flannery (Munster), J Hayes (Munster), L Cullen (Leinster), P O’Connell (Munster), S Ferris (Ulster), D Leamy (Munster), J Heaslip (Leinster). Replacements: S O’Brien (Leinster) for Leamy (45 mins), T O’Leary (Munster) for Reddan (54 mins), T Buckley (Munster) for Hayes (60 mins), D O’Callaghan (Munster) for O’Connell, A Trimble (Ulster) for O’Driscoll (both 67 mins), S Cronin (Connacht) for Flannery (72 mins), P Wallace (Ulster) for Kearney (74 mins).

FIJI: N Ligairi (La Rochelle); V Goneva (Colomiers), G Lovobalavu (Toulon), S Baikeinuku (ASM Clermont), N Roko (Naitasiri, Fiji); N Little (Bath), M Rauluni (Saracens); A Tarogi (AS Roanne), V Veikoso (Nadi, Fiji) V Seuseu (Nadi), W Lewaravu (Parma), I Rawaqa (Bulls, Japan), A Satala (Gloucester), A Qera (Gloucester), A Boko (Nadroga, Fiji). Replacements: L Nakarawa (Suva, Fiji) for Rawaqa (h-t), T Nagusa (Ulster) for Ligairi (52 mins), I Ledua (Northland, Fiji) for Veikoso, G Dewes (Counties Manakau, Nzl) for Tarogi, S Bola (Suva) for Qera (all 65 mins), J Matavesi (Exeter) for Bai (78 mins).

Referee: M Jonker (South Africa).