A HAT-TRICK FROM Fergus McFadden helped Ireland to a 14-40 win over Canada in Toronto last night.
The scoreline was convincing in the end. Yet for 54 minutes Ireland were embroiled in a dog-fight.
Actual fights and scuffles broke out too often too, with the captain Peter O’Mahony reverting to the shortened fuse he seemed to have upgraded from in recent months.
McFadden’s treble was only half of the try total. There were first international scores for Darren Cave and Tommy O’Donnell. While Andre Trimble began a typically all-action display with a try to mark his 50th appearance in green.
The visitors started with much greater intent and purpose than they showed at any time of last week’s narrow win over the USA. Garryowens were lofted and the chases were frantic. Yet it was James Pritchard who drew first blood on a night he would become Canada’s all-time leading points scorer.
Trimble got Ireland off the mark in the 10th minute, powering his way into the right side corner despite the attention of Nathan Hirayama.
Pritchard would punish two more Irish breakdown infringements, but Canada’s 9-7 lead lasted mere minutes: an Ian Madigan chip to the left flank was taken up by Fergus McFadden who coasted over to make it 9-12 in the 28th minute.
That score would remain unchanged until the break as Madigan connected poorly with the conversion and, from a later penalty, passed up the opportunity of an easy three points in favour of a line-out. Ireland’s maul careered over the line, but O’Donnell was held up and Canada held on to the single score deficit.
That deficit would soon be Ireland’s again. A 45th minute scrum paved the way for number eight Aaron Carpenter to break down the blindside with scrum-half Phil Mack in support.
McFadden led the scramble to cover, but by then, the red jerseys were beating a path to the try-line and Ireland’s defence could not muster the numbers in time to stop blindside Tyler Ardron crashing over the white-wash to send the crowd wild.
Pritchard’s missed conversion tempered the outright glee and led by senior players, Trimble, Felix Jones, McFadden and James Downey, in the back-line Ireland looked much more clinical from that moment on.
An Achilles heel last week, it was heartening that the game swung on a 55th minute line-out move.
Toner gave Boss quick ball off the top and O’Mahony’s carry occupied three defenders. Kevin McLaughlin profited, storming through the gap with Cave in hot pursuit to take the ball under the sticks and give Ireland a lead that would not be lost again.
Three minute’s later, another line-out set the platform. But hte devastating damage was done by a run from Dan Tuohy, knocking out Ciaran Hearn on his way through to feed Toner. The big man was held up just shy of the line, but he got his arms free long enough to pop a pass into McFadden’s grateful grasp.
Madigan (3/5 on the night) added the conversion and Ireland were suddenly out of sight just 12 minutes after falling behind.
With the bench emptying, Paddy Jackson joined his provincial half-back partner Paul Marshall. Both men looked intent on rounding off a long season with a big win. First, though, they were patient. 12 phases of pressure were soaked up and the hosts forced back 50 metres before Hirayama attempted to chip over the top.
Loose ball
Marshall and Downey combined to force a knock-on from the number 10. Jackson took up the loose ball to show how it should be done. Tuohy led another charge before O’Donnell burst the first tackle and the Tipperary man took full advantage of the 30 metres of space between him and the try-line.
The hosts had fought themselves into a corner, and O’Mahony looked like a man hell-bent on taking Ireland over the 40 point mark when he peeled off the back of a 79th minute five-metre scrum.
He was held up, however, and Marshall took control of the next feed to supply McFadden on an angled run into the left corner.
A deserved end for a player who has been Ireland’s most potent weapon on this tour of North America. And a mixed bag of a game to sum up a long hard season in Irish Rugby.
