THERE IS SOMETHING deeply pleasing and settling about scoring with your first visit to the opposition 22.

The same applies to scoring from your first set-piece platform in the opposition half.

These things make it feel like everything will unfold according to plan, or certainly as much as that’s possible in rugby.

Well, Ireland went one better in both regards on Friday night. They scored with both of their first two visits into the Argentina 22. Simultaneously, they scored from both of their first two set-piece platforms in the Pumas’ half of the pitch.

That’s one way of teeing yourself up for a convincing victory.

Ireland couldn’t sustain that clinical edge for the remainder of the game and ended up being a little wasteful with a series of entries into Argentina’s 22 in the final quarter.

But there was a sharp edge to the Irish attack earlier in the game, with Hugo Keenan’s first try in the 15th minute setting a decisive tone.

It comes from a right-hand-side lineout just beyond the Argentina 10-metre line, with the Irish pack initially attempting to maul but meeting stern resistance. 

So Ireland play away to their backs, with scrum-half Craig Casey [green below] scooting away from the maul as inside centre Stuart McCloskey [blue] runs a direct line off him.

Their intent is to hold the first two Pumas defenders tight for as long as possible, given that Casey intends to play out the back of McCloskey to Ireland out-half Sam Prendergast.

So it is that Argentina are already adjusting to the changing picture as Prendergast receives the ball from Casey.

The Irish out-half [red below] has right wing Rob Baloucoune [yellow] swinging from right to left with him, while outside centre Robbie Henshaw [pink] is running a straightening line outside.

It briefly looks like Henshaw is going to run a straightforward front-door line for Prendergast here, giving him a hard carrying option as Baloucoune bounces out behind Henshaw for a possible pullback pass from Prendergast.

Instead, Henshaw controls his feet as opposite number Justo Piccardo advances to tackle him. This slowing of his feet gives Henshaw just enough time to deftly play a no-look return pass outside to Prendergast, who runs a loop line around him.

It’s silky stuff from Henshaw close to the tackle.

With Piccardo [pink below] so thoroughly committing onto the threat of Henshaw carrying, his centre partner Santiago Chocobares [white below] has to worry about the possibility of Henshaw tipping a short pass to Ireland fullback Hugo Keenan.

Keenan’s line is typically well-timed and convincing, meaning Chocobares can’t ignore him.

That ensures that Chocobares [white below] is left stretching to recover back out beyond Keenan when Henshaw returns the ball to Prendergast on the loop.

And that, in turn, means Argentina right wing Bautista Delguy [yellow above] is now having to worry about potentially tackling Prendergast if he runs the ball.

But Prendergast already knows it’s time to feed the speed.

After a brief delay to interest Delguy, the Ireland out-half pops the ball away to Baloucoune, who shows his pace on an initially diagonal line to take him outside Delguy before he squares upfield.

Argentina fullback Juan Cruz Mallía now has to turn infield to tackle Baloucoune, who calmly gets his right hand beyond the tackle and offloads accurately to left wing Mack Hansen.

As he gathers the offload, Hansen can see and sense the heat on him.

Delguy [yellow below] has tracked back across onto him, while Mateo Carreras [blue] has worked across from further infield, and Tomás Albornoz [red] has swung across the backfield.

Hansen has little time to make a decision, but it’s a good one.

With Delguy stretching to tackle him, Hansen lifts the ball overhead and infield, bypassing Carreras and Albornoz in the process.

Prendergast and Casey are in the vicinity of the dropping offload, but it’s Keenan who gets pay-off for continuing upfield after his initial decoy line outside Henshaw.

Oftentimes, such support lines are not rewarded with classy offloads like Hansen’s in this case, but Keenan is a player who always works hard to be in the right place.

He takes the assist from Hansen and surges over for Ireland’s first try.

There was a suspicion that Hansen’s offload came forward out of his hands, but it was reviewed by the TMO and the try stood for Ireland.

“Our set-piece delivered, so we needed to be joined up and back that up with some positive play. They did that,” was Ireland boss Andy Farrell’s view on this score.

“Robbie had a lovely ball right at the line. Rob puts some pace on it and turned the corner really well. Great try.”

Ireland’s second score of the night was another clinical effort from a lineout, this one on the left-hand side in the Argentina 22. 

Again, the Irish lineout fires, with dummies from Tadhg Beirne and Joe McCarthy helping to create space for a ‘double tops’ take by Ryan Baird at full stretch in the lift of prop pair Andrew Porter and Tadhg Furlong, two of the strongest lifters.

As Baird is coming to ground, Ireland’s strike play is already taking shape.

Nick Timoney [red below] is the Irish receiver, or +1, and he is moving to take the transfer from Baird.

Meanwhile, McCarthy [yellow below] goes from his dummy jump to working around the back of the lineout to slot in behind Furlong.

McCarthy is a strong mauler and his presence here at the back edge behind Furlong suggests that Ireland might attempt to shift a maul drive in that direction, with McCarthy spearheading it.

McCarthy’s movement lures in Argentina ‘tailgunner’ Julián Montoya [circled in red below], who is the defensive receiver and generally needs to be concerned about a back peel play where Ireland break off a dummy maul.

Montoya is now in the process of committing into what he thinks will be maul defence, even though opposite number Dan Sheehan [pink above] is already working hard to get infield after throwing into the lineout.

While that’s going on, Casey [green below] makes a dart into the shortside after starting 10 metres behind the lineout.

Casey’s role is to keep Argentina concerned about an Irish attack into the shortside, delaying his opposite number Gonzalo García and tighthead prop Francisco Moreno from folding to the far side of the maul.

Ireland want to preserve that space as much as possible.

They look to keep Pablo Matera [black below], the first backline defender off the lineout, honest for as long as possible by running both Hansen [yellow] and McCloskey [blue] into his channel.

The entire combined effect is that when Timoney takes the ball from Baird and swivels to hit Sheehan coming off the touchline, there is space for Ireland in the seam behind the lineout.

Sheehan thunders into it, draws Matera as he turns in, and pops a slick no-look return ball inside to Timoney.

Timoney goes close to finishing on first phase as he steps Albornoz, but Montoya makes a recovery tackle from behind him.

Yet Ireland stay calm to complete the job, with McCloskey clearing Montoya away for quick ball, which Casey shifts to his right.

Beirne runs a line tight off the ruck that engages Marcos Kremer and briefly attracts Delguy, with Casey opting to go out the back of Beirne to Sheehan, who then thunders over the mismatched Delguy to score.

It’s snappy stuff from Ireland.

Up in the coaches’ box, it’s clear that forwards coach Paul O’Connell shares a knowing look with backs coach Andrew Goodman when Sheehan finishes.

Simon Easterby gives Goodman and O’Connell a clap of congratulations for a plan well made and well rehearsed.

However, it was Ireland’s third try that Farrell later picked out as his favourite of the game.

Keenan bagged his second of the night in the 30th minute after one of Ireland’s four lineout steals.

It’s a five-metre lineout for Argentina after a clever kick from Prendergast. Leonel Oviedo is tasked with throwing in for his very first involvement in the game after replacing the injured Montoya.

And Baird, who had three lineout steals in this game, picks him off.

Watch above how Juan Martín González tries to trick Baird with a dummy jump before he actually takes off at the front of the lineout.

Baird doesn’t buy it, biding his time and leaping on the actual jump, lifted by the powerful Furlong and McCarthy. His cause is helped by Oviedo slightly underthrowing.

Baird’s steal is emphatic as he slaps the ball back on Ireland’s side, calling for Porter to react sharply.

Porter gathers and feeds Timoney, who carries well as his team-mates switch from defence into attack mode.

Casey’s pass from the ensuing breakdown is excellent.

The obvious recipient is the hard-carrying number eight Sean Jansen [red below].

But Casey instead fizzes a longer pass across the face of Jansen to McCloskey [blue].

The length and speed of Casey’s pass immediately leaves Argentina chasing as they try to get defenders away from their planned exiting lineout.

Prendergast [pink below] and Hansen [yellow] initially set up in behind Jansen but then work hard to swing out the back of McCloskey, with Henshaw running a threatening line short off his centre partner.

Piccardo actually does well to read off Henshaw and then Prendergast to get to Hansen, but as we see below, the Pumas centre can’t prevent Hansen from getting the ball away to Keenan.

And as the ball arrives to him, Keenan has an invitation back on the inside shoulder of Pumas left wing Carreras.

With Piccardo tackling Hansen, there is 10 metres of space between Carreras and the next defender on his inside, Kremer.

Keenan doesn’t need to be asked twice, and he accelerates back inside Carreras, powering through his tackle attempt.

Kremer can’t get to Keenan, with Henshaw blocking his route, although the officials are happy there is no illegal obstruction when they review the score.

Keenan seals the deal by slaloming around Albornoz, dragging him over the line as Matera tries and fails to get a grip on the Ireland fullback.

“I suppose the tries that please you most are the ones where you’ve got some pressure on their lineout, you turn the ball over, Ports passes the ball, we play some good rugby,” said Farrell.

“That’s a proper team try. It’s proper joined up.”

Ireland were frustrated not to seal their bonus point before the half-time break, but they bagged that fourth try in the opening passage of the second half as Prendergast got in on the scoring.

Piccardo is in the sin bin at this stage, and then Carreras is left injured on the ground from the first carry of the half.

Despite now being down to 13 players and with their primary kick chaser on the left-hand side missing, Argentina decide to kick their exit infield rather than out of play.

Ireland happily counter off the kick receipt, which is an uncontested one for Keenan.

Several times in this game, Farrell’s side looked to use a four-man pod of forwards off the first ruck when they transitioned from defence to attack, as in this case.

Ireland have used lots of these four-man pods in their play in recent years, although mainly when exiting out of their own 22. Three-man pods are extremely common in modern rugby, but four-man less so.

In this instance, Jansen [red below] is again the most obvious recipient of Casey’s pass, but the scrum-half lasers another longer pass to Timoney [blue] just outside.

All of this serves to keep the Pumas defenders close to the ruck occupied, as they probably initially expect to have to deal with a three-man pod, then have to adjust as Ireland throw a four-man pod at them with the pass going one wider to Timoney.

Timoney sweeps the ball out the back of Rónan Kelleher and Prendergast then shifts it to Hansen, who can threaten wide on the left.

The danger for Argentina is clear, although Hansen doesn’t connect with Henshaw.

Ireland do recover the ball and Casey then snipes into the shortside with McCarthy, making further gains and trapping defenders into that area.

Ireland score on the next phase.

This time, it’s a three-man pod of forwards set up off the ruck, and Jansen will receive the ball in the middle of that pod.

Prendergast [blue below] is set up in the boot behind the three-man pod, while there’s a two-man pod [pink] waiting in midfield for the next layer of the attack.

Jansen is an obvious running threat for the Pumas to worry about, while Timoney [yellow below] offers Jansen a tip-on option.

The threat from Timoney is important because he interests Kremer initially, meaning the Pumas flanker then has to adjust back out when Jansen sweeps the ball behind Timoney to Prendergast.

The next defender in the Pumas line is González, who has to worry about that two-man pod [pink below], as well as Henshaw and McCloskey bouncing out the back of it.

Prendergast has the ball loaded to pass, which helps to keep González sitting off him, with González hoping that Kremer will recover out onto Prendergast.

But the Ireland out-half is gone with a dummy and a dart of acceleration.

Prendergast understands that Albornoz is tracking across the backfield towards him, but he can also see that Carreras is still down getting treatment.

As such, there’s no backfield presence closing on Prendergast from his right, as would otherwise likely be the case, and he backs his pace to take him well clear of Albornoz for Ireland’s fourth try.

Farrell praised Prendergast for bringing his running game back to the fore early on this season, but he also highlighted the collective effort for this score.

“If you look at the try, the reason for the try is that everyone’s in it,” said Farrell.

“If you’ve got options at the line and people are running genuine lines, then defences get pulled around, and he’s smart enough to see that and show and go, and off he goes.

“It looks like it’s Sam’s try, but it’s a good team try. There’s five lads around him who are doing a great job.”

That joined-up spirit applies to Ireland’s fifth try too, with Ireland reacting well to their initial maul effort being shut down by the Pumas.

McCloskey carries off the maul, then a trio of Irish forwards beat their counterparts around the corner and show their handling skill.

Furlong and McCarthy tip the ball on fluidly, then Baird lifts a clever pass over Delguy to find Keenan surging over for his hat-trick.

Ireland’s sixth and final score saw them finally succeed with their maul, and it was rather fitting that two of the Irish backs joined in with the forwards, Henshaw and McCloskey lending their weight and power.

Baird and replacement tighthead prop Sam Illo did a particularly good job at the back edge of the maul, which Ireland shifted infield, and it’s Kelleher who dotted down at the tail.

Kelleher’s try came in the 55th minute and though Ireland continued to attack with intent, they didn’t manage to cross the line again.

They very nearly put together their best try of the night when Hansen chip-kicked and regathered before coming close to sending McCloskey over with a diagonal kick pass, only for Pedro Rubiolo to make a great play and deny them.

There were other frustrating errors from close range after good build-up work in that final quarter, but Ireland were happy with their 42-point return in the opening game of this international window.

There are tougher tests ahead of them this month, but this was a promising opening salvo from the Irish attack.