Gavan Casey

THERE WERE TIMES during the first half at the Aviva Stadium when Ireland’s plan appeared to be ‘get the ball to Robert Baloucoune and let’s see what happens.’

Forget about his two tries, which were walk-ins that could have been finished by a winger at any level of the game, but Baloucoune is fast becoming one of Ireland’s most essential players — ‘fast’ being the operative term.

The Ulster man possesses a speed and dexterity which is simply unmatched by any other back-three option in the country, and for an Ireland team lacking in raw dynamism relative to the world’s best teams, the availability of Baloucoune is now of paramount importance.

The lead-up to Ireland’s opening try by Tommy O’Brien was a more pertinent demonstration of the Ulster flier’s value to Andy Farrell’s side. Quickly becoming an emblem of what Ireland do well in attack, Baloucoune’s slaloming run off a first-phase strike occupied three Fijian defenders, helping to conjure the two-on-one from which Mack Hansen was able to send O’Brien across the chalk.

Baloucoune is often now the catalyst to whom Ireland defer off set plays. Early in the first half, Sam Prendergast pivoted from left to right behind a forward pod and sought Baloucoune — in open country — with a crossfield kick. It was a clever play design by Andrew Goodman and co, but such was the available space that Prendergast should have gotten the ball to Baloucoune without the bounce that eventually ricocheted into touch off the winger’s shins. The out-half’s frustration was conspicuous.

Prendergast, however, made no mistake when he teed up Baloucoune for the first of his two tries: in a moment that will be clipped by coaches of U12s teams around the country, he decided not to risk spiralling his left-to-right skip pass, ensuring the ball landed in Baloucoune’s bread basket with minimal fuss.

Robert Baloucoune dots down. Tom Maher / INPHO Tom Maher / INPHO / INPHO

Baloucoune would later take a second, even easier opportunity when Stuart McCloskey bypassed the overlapping Tommy O’Brien to feed his provincial teammate in the right-hand corner, which is bound to cause some slagging between the Ireland centre and left winger during the post-game debrief.

For a player so proficient in conjuring opportunities in more central areas, though, an underrated aspect of Baloucoune’s game is his discipline in holding his width at the most optimal times. In unstructured play, the Enniskillen man has an astute instinct for when to chip in or when to stay out, both in attack and defence — the latter of which remains a great strength in his game (one late failed gamble not withstanding).

He had a quieter second half as Ireland began to assert dominance over the Fijians, but Baloucoune’s will surely be one of the first names on Andy Farrell’s teamsheet to face the Springboks this day next week.

It’s a crying a shame that his fellow Ulster man, James McNabney, will likely miss his chance for inclusion in Ireland’s 23 to face the back-to-back world champions.

The young back row was on his way to a Test debut for the ages before he caught the swinging arm of replacement Fijian tighthead Inoke Ravuiwasa, a blow which left him visibly wobbly and forced him off with a head injury.

McNabney essentially set the tone for Ireland’s second half, the City of Armagh man thundering upfield with a 40-metre line-break before making another ballistic carry towards the Fijian line only to take Ravuiwasa’s forearm to the head.

The yellow-carded prop was a touch unfortunate, in truth: he had positioned himself to attempt a conventional try-saving tackle only for McNabney to lower his body height and dive for the line within the same split second.

James McNabney breaks the line. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO

Ballymena native McNabney received rapturous applause as he was helped from the field by Ireland’s medical staff, informing captain Tadhg Beirne “I’m okay” en route to the sideline.

Mercifully, he appeared in fine spirits on the field at full-time, and his cameo was an exciting glimpse at what’s to come from a player who already looks physically Test-ready.

More tantalising still is that McNabney is arguably not yet back up to full speed having missed the entirety of last season with an ACL injury. As such, he’s young in rugby years even for 23, but considering the power shortage in Ireland’s back row left by injuries to number eights Caelan Doris, Jack Conan, and Sean Jansen, it’s not outlandish to suggest a player of McNabney’s profile will be a loss against the ‘Boks despite his international career having spanned only a couple of minutes to date.

That said, Ryan Baird, whose excellence is becoming a near constant for province and country, recovered from an indifferent start to produce a man-of-the-match display at blindside. Nick Timoney, meanwhile, offered a bit of trademark ballast to put further gloss on the scoreline at the end of a middling Irish display.

Predictably, there won’t have been much gleaned from this game. For all the talk of ‘new standards’ and such, it was still only Fiji, with all due respect to the visitors, and Ireland appeared a team already thinking a week ahead.

The world champions will roll into town with a chip on their shoulder and, frighteningly, a point to prove following their narrow defeat by France in Paris on Friday night, and Ireland will need to reach levels simply not accessible against Fiji in order to even be competitive.