Ireland impress in easy opener

Under-21 World Cup: What do you get when you put a decent Irish side, a poor Tongan outfit and a Japanese referee together? A match that is never allowed to flow.

Still, Mark McDermott's under-21s got in some much-needed competitive action ahead of Tuesday's make-or-break contest against Argentina as they began their World Cup with a comprehensive victory.

Vitally, all their goals were accomplished: the bonus point was collected, no injuries were picked up and all 22 players saw some action.

If Argentina had any spies at Glasgow Academicals' grounds they would have gained some useful information from the pockets of continuity play Ireland did manage to produce.

For starters, they would have seen two fine strike runners in wingers Richard Lane and Tommy Bowe. Each bagged a brace of tries, thanks mainly to the latitude afforded them by the centre pairing of Glen Telford and Jon Hearty. Also, this industrious pack is capable of going toe-to-toe with any side - as the Six Nations games against France and England showed.

The stop-start nature of this contest actually worked in Ireland's favour as their naïve opponents fell foul of Mr Isasita's rigid approach. Most breakdowns resulted in Irish penalties or scrums regardless of who was in possession. This meant fairly painful viewing for the decent crowd.

The cricket score was rattled up as the less-fit islanders predictably drifted off the pace, though Tonga's initial effort cannot be faulted.

In response to an electric-guitar version of Ireland's Call, they laid down the challenge with their intimidating haka and even crossed for the first try after just three minutes. Outhalf Sione Taukapo's outrageous double-skip pass to winger Penisimani Teisina caught the Irish defence flat and the latter's inside pass allowed second row Tanginoa Fosita to steam over.

Ireland responded immediately, after Kilfi Latu was penalised for taking too long with the conversion, and levelled the contest thanks to Lane's first try after Hearty created the space by running a smart line.

After a few near misses, Gareth Steenson eventually found his kicking range with three penalties. Meanwhile, the impressive Ulster winger Bowe crossed for his double, both in the corner, the second the pick of the evening as he fended off two beefy Tongans. Steenson converted to leave it 26-5 at the turn.

A string of injuries to the Tonga forwards meant the second 40 minutes was even more staccato but Steenson kept the scoreboard ticking over until Lane grabbed his second and Ireland's fourth try on the hour.

With the bonus point earned, McDermott emptied his bench with an eye on next week's games against the Pumas and France.

There followed a few sevens-style bursts from the Tongans, keeping the crowd awake as they awaited the game between Australia and France.

Blindside flanker Brendan O'Connor (one of four Cork Constitution players in the squad) was rightfully named man of the match after several great hits and carries. He had clinched the award by sending captain David Gannon over deep in injury time for try number five.

The pack got through a mountain of work in an impressive defensive display but they will be keenly aware that the real physical challenges are yet to come

A last minute try by Lei Tomiki, converted by Chris Lyons, gave Australia a dramatic 25-24 victory over France in their opening round meeting. Elsewhere holders New Zealand beat England 35-13, while South Africa trounced hosts Scotland 69-15.

Scoring sequence: 4 mins: T Fosita try, 0-5; 7: R Lane try, 5-5; 10: G Steenson pen, 8-5; 13: T Bowe try, 13-5; 26: Steenson pen, 16-5; 30: Steenson pen 19-5; 34: Bowe try, Steenson con, 26-5 (half-time, 26-5). 56: Steenson pen, 29-5; 62: Lane try, Steenson con, 36-5; 83: D Gannon try, M Glancy con, 43-5.

IRELAND: A Finn; R Lane, J Hearty, G Telford, T Bowe; G Steenson, T O'Leary; J Wickham, D Fogarty, D Fitzpatrick, D Gannon (capt), S O'Connor, B O'Connor, D O'Brien, J Heaslip. Replacements: C Geoghegan for Fogarty, K Doyle for Fitzpatrick, N McComb for S O'Connor (67 mins), B O'Donnell for Telford (71 mins), O Hennessy for O'Brien, R Shaw for O'Leary, M Glancy for Steenson (77 mins).

TONGA: K Latu; A Fatafehi, S Kaufusi, K Tonga'uiha, P Teisina; S Taukapo, K Halapio; P Fakalelu, M Finau (capt), S Nginingini, T Fosita, S Timai, O Fifita, A Onesi, S Ofa. Replacements: V Akimeta for S Nginingini (half-time), A Lavaka for Taukapo (48 mins), N Tonga for Timai (blood, 49 -59 mins), T Folaumoetao for Finau (57 mins), T Toumohuni for Halapio (74 mins), N Tonga for Fifita, A Taufa for Teisina (both 75 mins), S Motu'apuaka for Fakalelu (79 mins).

Referee: Shinichi Isasita (Japan).

Other results: Argentina 43 Italy 10; Wales 46 Russia 11; S Africa 69 Scotland 15; N Zealand 35 England 13; Australia 25 France 24.