Ireland's Rugby World Cup campaign is up and running, although the tougher days are yet to come.
Aside from the opening two minutes in which Andy Farrell’s side gave up a freak, sloppy try, there was a clear gulf between the two teams at a baking hot Stade de Bordeaux, with Ireland scoring 12 tries in a 82-8 hammering of Romania, their highest ever tournament points tally and margin of victory.
Their task in this World Cup opener was simple; get the win wrapped up early, avoid cards and come away with a clean bill of health.
A full medical report will follow in the coming days, but the early indication would be that the Six Nations champions ticked all three of those boxes.
Despite falling 5-0 behind after just two minutes when scrum-half Gabriel Rupanu sprinted in to score a try before many fans had even reached their seats, Ireland dealt comfortably with anything Romania had to offer, replying instantly with a Jamison Gibson-Park try as Hugo Keenan, Tadhg Beirne, Bundee Aki and Johnny Sexton all added further scores before the break to give them a 33-8 half time lead.
There was a brief injury scare for Sexton who grimaced as he scored Ireland’s fifth try, but the fact that he carried on until the 65th minute in a game that was long over was reassuring enough that his hand injury was nothing serious.
It was a positive return for the Ireland captain who scored two tries and seven conversions on his return from six months out. The captain will be frustrated with his own grubber kick in the build-up to Romania’s early try, but it was quickly forgotten as he consistently brought pace to the Irish attack, even in the stifling Bordeaux heat.
Joe McCarthy’s rise continued with a try on his fourth cap, the Leinster second row scoring Ireland’s ninth of the day having been held up over the line on three previous occasions.
It will be hard to read anything into the result given the nature of the contest, but the major positive from an Irish perspective is that they were relentless in the second half.
Peter O’Mahony had a sharp edge to his game all afternoon and added two tries, while Aki – arguably Ireland’s best performer – also had a brace.
Most pleasing for Farrell will be the attitude, Ireland refusing to kick the ball out on 80 minutes before going the length of the pitch to score their final try through Beirne.
The early Romania score came just two minutes into the game, as Sexton misjudged a grubber for Earls down the right touchline. The Romanian cover did well to stop Earls getting back inside, and it was their out-half Hinckley Vaovasa who pounced onto the loose ball, popping back inside to Rupanu, as the scrum-half sprinted in to score a famous try for The Oaks.
Thoughts of a shock in Bordeaux barely had a chance to register before Ireland recovered, and it was Sexton who made amends for the errant kick as he put Ireland on their way.
The captain spotted a dozy defensive line to create a two-on-one to put Bundee Aki into space. From there it was simple hands as Aki popped to Ringrose, who went back inside to Gibson Park, and the scrum-half ran in to score on his first World Cup appearance. Sexton's conversion made it 7-5 as the clock hit five minutes.
Romania were throwing everything they had at Ireland in the opening quarter, but after Keith Earls won a breakdown penalty in his own 22 it sparked his side’s best attacking moment of the early stages.
Moving the ball wide to Lowe, they gained ground down the left wing, and continued to enjoy gainline success through Porter, Aki and Beirne thanks to quick ruck ball. With Romania scampering back, some neat handling from Sexton, Peter O’Mahony and James Ryan eventually put Keenan in to score, as a second Sexton conversion made it 14-5 on 12 minutes.
Four minutes later, that lead became 19-5 as Beirne dived over in the corner after patiently holding position on the left wing. A neat grubber from Lowe had almost put Earls in for a try, but after Ireland were held up just short, they quickly shifted the ball wide where Beirne was waiting to score.
This time Sexton’s conversion slipped wide, and on the quarter-hour mark Rupanu trimmed the score back to 19-8 when he tapped over a penalty after Aki had been caught offside.
The scorching weather was having a big say in the game. Only a small shadow down Ireland’s right wing was providing refuge from the 35C heat, and both sides appeared happy to take their time restarting play.
One man who was keen to play fast was Sexton, and his quick-tap penalty on 30 minutes led to Marius Simionescu picking up a yellow card for a cynical infringement. Shortly after, Joe McCarthy thought he’d scored the bonus point try, only for the second row to be held up over the line.
The fourth try wasn’t long coming, Aki stepping on the gas to get by Tevita Manumua from 40 metres out to run through and score, with Sexton confidently slotting the conversion from wide to make it 26-8.
The Ireland out-half was looking sharper as the half wore on, and he capped it off with a try of his own as he ran a great support line off the shoulder of Aki who had broken into the 22.
His 16th Test try was soon followed by a grimace after Romania’s Jason Tomane landed on his hand as Sexton dived in to score. After clutching his writs for a moment, the Irish out-half tapped over the conversion as Ireland went into the break 33-8 ahead.
He picked up where he left off after the break, drilling a penalty from 40 metres to within five of the Romanian line, and after another penalty followed, it allowed Herring to score for the second game in a row, the hooker helped over the line by an excellent latch by McCarthy.
Sexton’s conversion made it 40-8, and their seventh try followed shortly after in brilliant fashion.
First, Furlong set Herring into space with a deft pass, before Aki, Sexton and Lowe helped bring Ireland within inches of the line. From there, the quick ball was whipped out to O’Mahony, who wouldn’t be stopped from close range, with another conversion from the captain making it 47-8.
It had been an all-action return from Sexton, and his final act before departing on 65 minutes was to bring his personal tally up to 24 points when he scored, and converted Ireland’s eighth try to make it 54-8, charging onto a short pass from Murray at the side of a ruck.
Jack Crowley played 15 minutes on his World Cup debut, helping Ireland score late tries through O’Mahony, McCarthy and Aki to reach 75 points.
And with the clock in the red, Ireland were still ruthlessly searching for their 12th try of the game, which Beirne latched onto, as Crowley kicked his fourth conversion to cap off a 74-point win.
Ireland: Hugo Keenan; Keith Earls, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, James Lowe; Johnny Sexton (capt), Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Rob Herring, Tadhg Furlong; Joe McCarthy, James Ryan; Tadhg Beirne, Peter O'Mahony, Caelan Doris.
Replacements: Rónan Kelleher, Jeremy Loughman, Tom O'Toole, Iain Henderson, Josh van der Flier, Conor Murray, Jack Crowley, Mack Hansen.
Romania: Marius Simionescu; Nicolas Onutu, Jason Tomane, Fonovai Tangimana, Tevita Manumua; Hinckley Vaovasa, Gabriel Rupanu; Iulian Hartig, Ovidiu Cojocaru, Alexandru Gordas; Adrian Motoc, Stefan Iancu; Florian Rosu, Vlad Neculau, Cristian Chirica (capt).
Replacements: Florin Bardasu, Alexandru Savin, Gheorghe Gajion, Marius Iftimiciuc, Dragos Ser, Alin Conache, Tudor Boldor, Taylor Gontineac.
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
