Ireland were made to work hard for their 23-20 victory over a quality Fiji outfit, but got the job done at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
Ian Keatley's penalty was key with tries coming from Darren Sweetnam, Dave Kearney and Jack Conan, with Joey Carbery adding a conversion.
Fiji's tries came from Henry Senioli and Timoci Nagusa, with Ben Volavola kicking the remaining 10 points in an impressive display from them.
A much-changed Ireland started brightly in Dublin with a try set up by Carbery seeing him slice through before finding Sweetnam wide out. The young fly-half was off-target with his conversion attempt but it was an early example of how deadly a player he is with ball in hand.
Volavola did pull Fiji back to within two points on 21 minutes after an offside from Ireland but the hosts hit back almost immediately when Andrew Conway held two defenders to create space on the left for Kearney to dive over. This time Carbery hit the post with his conversion.
Kearney was denied a second try on the half-hour due to a knock-on from Conway in the attempt of claiming a ball, but Ireland didn't have to wait long for their third crossing as Conan showed decent pace to collect a spillage and get over on the right, making it a 17-3 lead.
Fiji recovered admirably though and a try just before the break from Senioli, set up by Nemani Nadolo, and one four minutes into the second-half from Nagusa, suddenly pulled them level at 17-17. Nagusa's score came as he intercepted Kearney's loose pass on halfway.
Suddenly it was anyone's game in Dublin and Joe Schmidt went to his bench in an attempt to respond. Fiji though were growing in confidence.
Keatley and Volavola traded penalties in the 66th and 69th minute respectively, with the prospect of a thrilling finish becoming a reality.
But a tip tackle on Cian Healy from Kini Murimurivalu gifted Keatley his second three-pointer on 73 minutes which proved the match-winner.
The scorers:
For Ireland:
Tries: Sweetnam, Kearney, Conan
Con: Carbery
Pens: Keatley 2
For Fiji:
Tries: Senioli, Nagusa
Cons: Volavola 2
Pens: Volavola 2
Ireland: 15 Andrew Conway, 14 Darren Sweetnam, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Jordi Murphy, 6 Rhys Ruddock (c), 5 Devin Toner, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Andrew Porter, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements: 16 James Tracy, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Kieran Treadwell, 20 CJ Stander, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Robbie Henshaw
Fiji: 15 Kini Murimurivalu, 14 Timoci Nagusa, 13 Jale Vatabua, 12 Levani Botia, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Ben Volavola, 9 Henry Senioli, 8 Nemani Nagusa, 7 Akapusi Qera, 6 Dominiko Waqaniboruto, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Apisalome Ratuniyarawa, 3 Manasa Saulo, 2 Talemaitoga Tuapati, 1 Campese Ma’afu
Replacements: 16 Sunia Koto, 17 Peni Ravai, 18 Kalivati Tawake, 19 Sikeli Nabou, 20 Peceli Yato/Semi Kunatani, 21 Niko Matawalu, 22 Asaeli Tikoirotuma, 23 Vereniki Goneva
Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Angus Gardner (Australia), Alex Ruiz (France)
Television match official: David Grashoff (England)
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