Ireland 53 Argentina 7
Ireland completed a hugely satisfying and near perfect Autumn Nations with what was, ultimately, that rarity - a relative Sunday afternoon stroll and record win against the outplayed Pumas.
What made this all the more rewarding for Andy Farrell and the coaching staff was that they dug deeper into their squad depth than they intended after a couple of enforced late changes. They also afforded half an hour’s game time to some of their young guns yet still won pulling away.
Ireland earned their control the hard way as a win of this magnitude didn’t seem likely for much of the first half, during which Argentina were meaty in contact, competitive at the breakdown and left 13 points behind them.
However, the excellence of Ireland’s set-pieces - particularly their lineout and maul - and the increasing and customary accuracy of their two-man recycling proved relentless.
It was a game too far for los Pumas, all the more so after second half yellow and red cards for Pablo Matera and Tomas Lavanini. Ireland’s defence eventually nullified them but Argentina have problems.
Rónan Kelleher, Tadhg Furlong, Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris (moved to 8) led the charge with big games, while Joey Carbery kicked 18 points in a very smooth man of the match performance.
Ireland lost no momentum with the arrival of Craig Casey and Harry Byrne, while, class player that he remains, Carbery slotted into fullback effortlessly and availed of the additional space to glide through gaps twice.
Farrell had made a quartet of changes to the backline, but there were enforced alterations to an originally unchanged pack as Jack Conan and, not long before kick-off, Iain Henderson were ruled out.
This meant the excellent Tadhg Beirne and Peter O’Mahony were promoted from the bench, with those places filled by Ryan Baird and Nick Timoney.
There was a sleepy Sunday feel compared to eight days previously and, also unlike last week, Ireland dropped balls in the warm-up and weren’t as quick into their stride, Garry Ringrose knocking on before Argentina attacked off an overcooked box kick by Conor Murray.
Offloads by Thomas Gallo and Santiago Grondona gave Jeronimo de la Fuente room to link with winger Mateo Carreras, who stepped inside Beirne for an easy finish.
But it awoke Ireland and the crowd, and after Carbery opened his account James Ryan twice decreed he kick further penalties to the corner. The first emanated from Beirne’s lineout steal and Kelleher’s blindside run to link with the charging Doris, and the catch-and-drive off Beirne’s take led to a try for van der Flier.
The next originated in a scrum inside halfway after Carbery and van der Flier emptied Santiago Carreras. Murray was sharp off the base, putting Argentina on the back foot before good lines and passing by Henshaw, Carbery and Garry Ringrose released Lowe, with Ringrose then linking with Murray.
This time the drive was held up before Andrew Porter, still fuming over a dubious scrum penalty against him, burrowed over in inimitable style.
Emiliano Boffelli somehow sliced a 20 metre penalty to the left and pushed a straight-ish 40 metre penalty wide of the right post before Carreras came off his wing to take Tomas Cubelli’s reverse pass and, though slowed down by Murray’s tackle, he appeared to have the line at his mercy for a second time.
He fended Porter, chasing an apparent lost cause, but stumbled and then lost control of the ball short of the line. To compound his distress, he also injured himself and departed.
Ireland’s response was clinical. James Lowe, having another influential game, reclaimed a perfectly weighted box kick by Murray before he and Carbery began switching the point of attack.
Robert Baloucoune was finally given two strong gallops before Ryan carried hard and off the next recycle Doris took a big hit by Francisco Gomez Kodela and simply bounced through him and Grondona to score.
You don’t see prime Argentinian beef being treated like that very often, and so Ireland trooped off with a healthy 24-7 interval lead. Worryingly though, Ryan had walked off for what appeared like a HIA.
Ireland were in bring-it-on mode when los Pumas twice went to the corner, van der Flier and Kelleher latching onto loose deflections before Ryan Baird’s footwork in traffic gave him the opening for a 50 metre gallop upfield.
Murray might well have scored after Furlong’s charge and offloads by both him and Doris had it not been for Pablo Matera’s deliberate knock-on.
He was binned and Ireland took the three points from in front of the posts. That was the cue for Dan Sheehan, Craig Casey and Harry Byrne to be introduced. Ireland subsequently went to the corner prior to Matera’s return and van der Flier powered over from close-range, before Lavanini was red-carded for catching Cian Healy on the chin with a dangerous clear-out.
Healy then had a close-range finish chalked off before Sheehan peeled off a lineout drive to score, before Ireland pounded the line again for Healy to crash over.
The maul turned the screw again prior to Casey behind held up before Beirne picked and dived over for another close-range finish. Carbery hit the upright from the touchline with his sole miss from nine shots.
Scoring sequence: 3 mins M Carreras try, Boffelli con 0-7; 7 mins Carbery pen 3-7; 11 mins van der Flier try, Carbery con 10-7; 23 mins Porter try, Carbery con 17-7; 37 mins Doris try, Carbery con 24-7; (half-time 24-7); 49 mins Carbery pen 27-7; 57 mins van der Flier try, Carbery con 34-7; 67 mins Sheehan try, Carbery con 41-7; 73 mins Healy try, Carbery con 48-7; 77 mins Beirne try 53-7.
Ireland: Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD), Robert Baloucoune (Ulster/Enniskillen), Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD), Robbie Henshaw (Leinster/Buccaneers), James Lowe (Leinster); Joey Carbery (Munster/Clontarf), Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen); Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD), Ronan Kelleher (Leinster/Lansdowne), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Clontarf), Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Lansdowne), James Ryan (Leinster/UCD), Peter O'Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution), Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD), Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary's College).
Replacements: Ryan Baird (Leinster/Dublin University) for Ryan (39 mins), Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Dublin University) for Kelleher, Craig Casey (Munster/Shannon) for Murray, Harry Byrne (Leinster/Lansdowne) for Keenan (all 50 mins), Cian Healy (Leinster/Clontarf) for Porter, Tom O'Toole (Ulster/Ballynahinch) for Furlong (58 mins), Nick Timoney (Ulster/Banbridge) for van der Flier (60 mins), Keith Earls (Munster/Young Munster) for Henshaw (66 mins).
Argentina: Emiliano Boffelli (Edinburgh), Mateo Carreras (Newcastle Falcons), Matias Moroni (Leicester Tigers), Jeronimo de la Fuente (Perpignan), Lucio Cinti (London Irish); Santiago Carreras (Gloucester), Tomas Cubelli (Biarritz); Thomas Gallo (Benetton), Julian Montoya (Leicester Tigers, captain), Francisco Gomez Kodela (Lyon), Guido Petti (Bordeaux), Tomas Lavanini (Clermont Auvergne), Santiago Grondona (Exeter), Marcos Kremer (Stade Francaise), Pablo Matera (Crusaders).
Replacements: Ignacio Calles (Pau) for Gallo, Gonzalo Bertranou (Dragons) for Cubelli (both 46 mins), Lucas Paulos (Brive) for Petti (48 mins), Facundo Isa (Toulon) for Kremer (58 mins), Eduardo Bello (Zebre Parma) for Kodela, Nicolas Sanchez (Stade Francais) for S Carreras (both 60 mins), Facundo Bosch (La Rochelle) for Montoya (73 mins). Not used: Facundo Cordero (Exeter Chiefs).
Sinbinned: Matera (48-58 mins). Sent off: Lavanini (60 mins).
Referee: Matthew Carley (England).
