Canada 6 Ireland 25: IRELAND'S win on Saturday is proof that the rude health of the nation's senior side is set to continue, according to Declan Kidney.
After the game, which took place in unseasonably hot conditions, Kidney said the intense clash had provided valuable game time to debutantes Ian Keatley, Ian Dowling, Ian Whitten, Darren Cave, John Muldoon and Niall Ronan.
“From an Irish point of view, it’s great to see young fellas getting this kind of experience,” the coach said following the clash at the Thunderbird Stadium which took place in front of a crowd of 7,280, many of them Irish.
“One of the main aims of this tour is to establish depth in our squad, and playing in games like this certainly helps with that. The tour is a learning experience for everyone, both players and coaches.
“The young lads who were playing there today will be very glad of this experience, and with Leinster winning the Heineken Cup it’s been a good day for Irish rugby.”
One player the Corkman singled out for praise was man-of-the-match Ian Keatley, who looked assured at outhalf and kicked 10 points from the tee.
“Ian had a good game, we were very happy with him. Even in the last 10 minutes, you could see him growing in confidence. It can make a big difference in a player’s game when they get that confidence.”
Keatley himself was also happy with the day’s work and unable to keep the smile off his face as he spoke to reporters.
“I was delighted to get my first cap and with how the game went. Getting the man-of-the-match was just an added bonus,” said the Connacht outhalf.
The Canadians, having stated their intention to gain revenge for the 55-0 drubbing handed out to them in Thomond Park last November, stayed true to their word. From the off, the mostly amateur side were in the visitors’ faces with several ferocious tackles made by the hosts in the opening minutes.
Flanker Chauncey O’Toole’s ferocity got him in trouble five minutes in when he upended Bob Casey dangerously, but referee Chris White opted to take no further sanction than a penalty and a talking-to.
Most of the rugby was played between the 22s in the opening quarter with sloppiness from both sides preventing pressure from being turned into points.
On 17 minutes, Canadian fullback James Pritchard failed to handle a Garryowen from Keatley, with the subsequent bounce putting the ball in the hands of Niall Ronan. Quick service at the ruck led to Darren Cave chipping over the defence, with Barry Murphy racing after the ball into the corner and pouncing for the opening try. Keatley put over a tough conversion.
There was no Thomond Park-style capitulation from Canada, however, following the score as the amateurs continued to pummel the Irish in defence and look dangerous in attack.
Pritchard made up for his earlier mistake by putting over a penalty from near the touchline just before half-time.
Two minutes into the second half, the Canadian comeback continued with Pritchard again putting the ball between the posts from a penalty, this time from the other touchline, to make the score 7-6. But in the space of three minutes Keatley replied with two penalties of his own, the second of which was given after flanker Adam Kleeberger was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on at a ruck in front of the posts.
Ireland’s two more tries would be scored during Kleeberger’s time off the pitch.
The first came when turnover ball inside the Irish 22 saw Caldwell, Ronan and Cave spread the ball wide to allow first-timer Whitten to score at the other end.
Tony Buckley, who looked lively with the ball in hand all day, capped off an encouraging performance by scoring in the corner with 10 minutes remaining to put the score at a slightly unrepresentative 25-6.
Keatley missed the conversion but it failed to take the gloss off a performance that did no harm to his stake at becoming Ronan O’Gara’s eventual successor.
CANADA: J Pritchard; D van Camp, C Hearn, R Smith, DTH van der Merwe; D Spicer, E Fairhurst, A Carpenter, A Kleeberger, C O'Toole, M Burak, T Hotson, S Franklin, P Riordan, K Tkachuk. Replacements: J Sinclair for Carpenter, N Dala for Fairhurst.
IRELAND: G Duffy; B Murphy, D Cave, I Whitten, I Dowling; I Keatley, P Stringer; T Court, R Best (capt), T Buckley, B Casey, M O'Driscoll, J Muldoon, N Ronan, D Leamy. Replacements: R Caldwell (for Casey), M Ross (for Court), D Ryan (for Muldoon), E Reddan (for Stringer).
Attendance: 7,280
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