Ireland brushed aside Canada 55-0 in front of a delighted Thomond Park crowd on Saturday, although heavy rain put pay to the open game many had expected to see.
Despite the bleak conditions Ireland showed plenty of adventure. And if they are capable of stepping it up ahead of next week's Test, they could be on their way to rediscovering the form of 2006 -- back-to-back victories over South Africa and Australia proving their worth.
There is a long way to go before that, but for now the signs are good.
The writing was on the wall as early as the third minute, Keith Earls making the perfect start to his Ireland career with a strong run to finish a sweeping move. Earls has been in superb form for Munster this season, and with his first touch in an Ireland shirt he crossed for a memorable score.
Canada did little to help themselves in the early exchanges, giving away several needless penalties -- the third of which Ronan O'Gara slotted over to consolidate Earls' opening try. With Ireland running the show, mainly through some slick back play, it was no surprise to see them add a second try soon enough.
In fact, such was Ireland's dominance, the only surprise was the nature of the try. James Pritchard seemed to have an O'Gara grubber covered but a half-hack from Earls saw the ball skid into the in-goal area and Rob Kearney was the quickest to react. But no sooner had Ireland settled than the heavens opened and suddenly the game was for more fragmented.
True to the conditions, which called for an increase in tight play, Ireland's third try came from a powerful Jamie Heaslip drive off the base of a five metre scrum. Heaslip's drive served to reiterate the fact Ireland had the ability to dominate in any area of the game, be it in the tight or playing rugby with ball in hand.
A fourth try belied the conditions, after Luke Fitzgerald made a telling break that forced the Canadian defence to cough up yet another penalty. From there it was all down to Eoin Reddan's vision -- spotting Kearney on his own out wide -- and his weighted kick found the Leinster man with ease. Although not as much ease with which O'Gara slotted his touchline conversion.
Tommy Bowe's try completed the first half action, and, just in case there was any doubt, put the result past Canada. What will please Kidney is the manner in which his forwards created the try with some meaningful driving, which allowed Bowe to switch the angle and cruise over.
With a host of changes at the break from both sides, the second half was slow to get going. But once Ireland found their rhythm again they began to demonstrate the gulf in class, although their inability to press home a telling advantage will be of concern.
The home fans broke into a rousing version of Fields of Athenry on the hour, but it did little to lift the players. With the game meandering along with no real purpose Ireland were able to run their bench, which in turn did little for the fading consistency of the game.
It took a moment of individual brilliance from Bowe, breaking the defensive line before offloading to David Wallace, who streaked over to lift the mood of those drenched in the stands.
There were two more tries, and it was perhaps fitting that Ireland saved their best until last. Some fine inter-play between Kearney, Bowe and David Wallace afforded Alan Quinlan the luxury of strolling over to bring the fifty up. And then Shane Horgan made a fine run before sending Bowe over for his second.
All in all Ireland coach Declan Kidney will be pleased with what he saw here, albeit the bulk of what was good came in the first half, and will have plenty to build on ahead of more challenging tests.
As for Canada this was a challenge they were not prepared for, and if they are to ever improve as a side they will need more exposure to such class opponents, as anything less and they will continue to languish at the level they are currently at.
Man of the Match: Ronan O'Gara did everything you could ask of your fly-half, and was superb with the boot. But it was Keith Earls and Rob Kearney who stood out the most for Ireland, and but for rain we may have seen a lot more of them. The duo have time on their side, which will please Ireland, and have the potential to develop into quality Test players. A mention also for Tommy Bowe who was full of running and created havoc on a few occasions.
Moment of the Match: This has to be Keith Earls' try, for two reasons. The first being that from the moment Ireland scored the game was only ever going to produce one outcome. And what a way for one of Ireland's form players to mark his debut, a try inside two minutes.
Villain of the Match: Nothing that merits such a ghastly award.
The scorers:
For Ireland:
Tries: Earls, Kearney 2, Heaslip, Bowe 2, D.Wallace
Cons: O'Gara 5, P.Wallace
Pen: O'Gara
Ireland: 15 Keith Earls, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 12 Luke Fitzgerald, 11 Robert Kearney, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Shane Jennings, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Tony Buckley, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements (From): 16 Rory Best, 17 John Hayes, 18 Alan Quinlan, 19 David Wallace, 20 Paddy Wallace, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 Shane Horgan.
Canada: 15 James Pritchard, 14 Ciaran Hearn, 13 Bryn Keys, 12 Ryan Smith, 11 Justin Mensah-Coker, 10 Ander Monro, 9 Ed Fairhurst, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 Adam Kleeberger, 6 Sean Michael Stephen, 5 Josh Jackson, 4 Mike Burak, 3 Jon Thiel, 2 Pat Riordan (c), 1 Kevin Tkachuk.
Replacements: 16 Mike Pletch, 17 Frank Walsh, 18 Tyler Hotson, 19 Jebb Sinclair, 20 Morgan Williams, 21 Matt Evans, 22 Phil Mackenzie
Referee: Christophe Berdos (France)
Touch judges: Nigel Owens (Wales), Carlo Damasco (Italy)
Television match official: Giulio De Santis (Italy)
Assessor: Bob Francis (New Zealand)
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