Second half flurry gives Ireland unconvincing win v Fiji

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Ireland warmed up for next week's visit of South Africa with a 43-15 bonus-point win against Fiji, but Andy Farrell's side will need a significant improvement when the world…

Ireland warmed up for next week's visit of South Africa with a 43-15 bonus-point win against Fiji, but Andy Farrell's side will need a significant improvement when the world champions come to town next week.

If last week's performance against Argentina set the "new standards" of this Ireland team, Andy Farrell's side fell well short of that mark, and while they outscored the Fijians 26-0 in the second half, it was far from a vintage display.

The sloppiness of their summer in Australia and New Zealand returned tonight, seeing three potential first-half tries chalked off, which allowed Fiji stay in the game for the first hour.

Also concerning was their discipline, which consistently struggled as soon as they were pinned into their own 22 with Fiji taking advantage in the opening half to score a pair of tries from Josua Tuisova and Peceli Yato, before Ben Volavola added a penalty on 40 minutes following Tadhg Beirne's yellow card.

A Tommy O'Brien try and two from the excellent Rob Baloucoune had Ireland 17-15 in front after the break, and they looked a far better side after it, with Rónan Kelleher, Andrew Porter, O'Brien and Nick Timoney all crossing to score, while keeping their opponents scoreless.

If there was a big positive for Farrell it will have been the Irish scrum, which dominated throughout, and while the Springboks will present a far greater setpiece challenge, it's a timely confidence boost for the John Fogarty's scrummaging unit.

Jamie Osborne's (above) opportunity at centre lasted only three minutes, with the versatile back departing with an arm injury, while James McNabney lasted only four minutes on his debut, the number 8 suffering a head injury after a swinging arm by Inoke Ravutwasa, but he logged two ferocious carries in his short cameo.

After Ireland's back three gelled so wonderfully last week, it took this week's trio only eight minutes to click into gear.

They should have been further clear on 15 minutes when Jamison Gibson-Park knocked on over the…

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