Ireland 42 - Argentina 12
2 min readRugby$2.14 pending
A good win for Ireland at home to what is always a sticky opponent.
You could say that it was optimistic rather than impressive and the score line was a bit generous helped by a yellow car for repeated fouling and a few HIA for the Argentina team which came under severe pressure without some of it's top players on the pitch.
The positive for Ireland is that they managed this large victory with some new and returning faces which is great for the depth of the squad a long time Achilles heel of such a small rugby playing nation.
The night belonged to returning full-back Hugo Keenan. Playing his first Test in Dublin in 22 months and joking afterward that he had forgotten which side of the pitch Ireland warm up on. Keenan looked like he had never been away, bagging a brilliant hat-trick and Player of the Match honors.
Our out half Predergast has been playing senior for the past few years but has always looked out of his depth despite the obvious talent that he has due to his age and size. This year it looks like he has bulked up a bit and hopefully matured a well. If he does then we could see another special player for Ireland.
Argentina are always fast and dangerous to play against and last night was no different. Their first try was a kick aimed into the corner with perfection and swooped on by the attacker. It was pin point accurate.
After that however Ireland upped the anti and never looked like losing it. Their intent and passing was brilliant and other than the defense which wasn't tested enough were obviously the better team. It would be a different story against one of the better teams with their defense caught out a few times when it should have been better but we also have a lot of important players to come back into the squad.
You could say that it was optimistic rather than impressive and the score line was a bit generous helped by a yellow car for repeated fouling and a few HIA for the Argentina team which came under severe pressure without some of it's top players on the pitch.
The positive for Ireland is that they managed this large victory with some new and returning faces which is great for the depth of the squad a long time Achilles heel of such a small rugby playing nation.
The night belonged to returning full-back Hugo Keenan. Playing his first Test in Dublin in 22 months and joking afterward that he had forgotten which side of the pitch Ireland warm up on. Keenan looked like he had never been away, bagging a brilliant hat-trick and Player of the Match honors.
Our out half Predergast has been playing senior for the past few years but has always looked out of his depth despite the obvious talent that he has due to his age and size. This year it looks like he has bulked up a bit and hopefully matured a well. If he does then we could see another special player for Ireland.
Argentina are always fast and dangerous to play against and last night was no different. Their first try was a kick aimed into the corner with perfection and swooped on by the attacker. It was pin point accurate.
After that however Ireland upped the anti and never looked like losing it. Their intent and passing was brilliant and other than the defense which wasn't tested enough were obviously the better team. It would be a different story against one of the better teams with their defense caught out a few times when it should have been better but we also have a lot of important players to come back into the squad.