Ireland seal World Cup berth with win

Ireland 63 Georgia 14

Yet despite such an achievement coach Eddie O'Sullivan was not pumping out the plaudits.

"Good and bad," he admitted in his analysis of the day's fare after a first half romp turned into a bit of a struggle in the second period.

"We put together a lot of nice passages of play in the first half but slipped back a bit afterwards. Some of things we tried did not come off and it was a little disappointing from that point of view.

"Still, the main objective was to secure the win. We have had a tough week in terms of travel and preparation. At the end of the day, we have done what we set out to achieve and that is really what counts."

Ireland failed to match the scoring achievement of the 1999 team (70-0) yet they produced eight tries in what was a mismatch of the highest order.

For much of the game this was by far and away their most convincing performance of the season for Ireland. But once again, there are signs for concern as the side huffed and puffed a little in the second half, lacking the killer instinct and allowing the visitors in for soft scores.

Credit is due to Georgia for the way they battled throughout particularly after Ireland added to their 42 point lead with a fifth try early in the second half.

The arrival of replacement centre Vassil Katsadze helped shore up their defence and he also caused a few problems going forward in a spell which yielded two tries for the Easterners.

Despite such concerns there were numerous positives, according to stand-in captain Anthony Foley.

"I thought we played exceptionally well in the first half and also at times in the second. I don't think we lacked concentration. It was more a case of Georgia settling down and getting stuck in.

"It was relatively easy in the first half but they made some changes that worked for them. It was disappointing to concede those two tries because we pride ourselves in defending well. Overall, however, we have to be happy with scoring eight tries and winning the match relatively easily."

Another source of encouragement were the strong performances from the substitutes, all seven of whom were used on Saturday. In particular, Guy Easterby, Alan Quinlan, Rob Henderson and Frank Sheahan impressed when introduced to the action.

This Irish squad will be relieved that the pressure of having to qualify for Australia is now off but Foley realises there is more hard work to be done.

"We are happy to have played and won three internationals. Now we have to think about November and games against Australia, Fiji and Argentina.

"We set ourselves pretty high targets but I suppose we will have our work cut out to beat Australia and probably Argentina as well. It's all about setting our sights on achievement and on building a bit of momentum going into the Six Nations and, of course, prior to next year's World Cup."

Brian O'Driscoll is heading ever closer to breaking the Irish try scoring record after contributing two of the scores on Saturday. Brothers Simon and Guy Easterby grabbed one apiece while Denis Hickie, Girvan Dempsey, Kevin Maggs and Quinlan added one each. Ronan O'Gara kicked three penalties and five conversions while David Humphreys, who equalled

Jackie Kyle's 46 match test career, also added two conversions.

Scoring sequence: first half: 1 min Denis Hickie try, Ronan O'Gara conversion. 7-0. 7 mins O'Gara penalty. 11 mins O'Gara penalty. 13 mins Kevin Maggs try, O'Gara conversion. 20-0. 21 mins O'Gara penalty, 23-0. 24 mins Brian O'Driscoll try, O'Gara conversion. 30-0. 32 mins O'Driscoll try, O'Gara conversion. 37-0. 40 mins Girvan Dempsey try. 42-0.

Second Half:. Simon Easterby try, O'Gara conversion. 49-0. 5 mins Vassil Katsadze try, Malkhaz Urjukashvili conversion. 49-7. 30 mins Bessik Khamashhuridze try, Urjukashvili conversion. 49- 14. 36 mins Alan Quinlan try, David Humphreys conversion. 56-14. 42 mins Guy Easterby try, Humphreys conversion. 63-14.

IRELAND: G Dempsey (Terenure), J Kelly (Cork Constitution), B O'Driscoll (Blackrock), K Maggs (Bath), D Hickie (St Mary's), R O'Gara (Cork Constitution), P Stringer (Shannon), R Corrigan (Greystones), S Byrne (Blackrock), J Hayes (Shannon), G Longwell (Ballymena), M O'Kelly (Ballymena), S Easterby (Llanelli), A Foley (Shannon, captain); K Gleeson (St Mary's). Replacements: A Quinlan (Shannon) for Easterby (injured, 54), D Humphreys (Dungannon) for O'Gara (60), R Henderson (Young Munster) for Maggs (65), F Sheahan (Cork Constitution) for Byrne (69), P Wallace (Blackrock) for Hayes, G Easterby (Llanelli) for Stringer, L Cullen (Blackrock) for Longwell (all 74).

GEORGIA: B Khamashhuridze (Auch), M Urjukashvili (Tours), T Zibzibadze (Tours), K Alania (Locomotivi), B Khekhelashvili (Angouleme), P Jimsheladze (Aurillac), I Abusseridze (Aurillac), G Shvelidze (Beziers), A Guiorgadze (Rovigo), L Tsabadze (Montferrand), V Nadiradze (Beziers), V Didebulidze (Cannes), D Bolghashvili (Mazamet), I Zedguinidze (Rovigo, captain); G Chkhaidze (La Rochelle). Replacements: V Katsadze (La Rochelle) for Alania, I Gundishvili (University of Georgia) for Bolghasvili (both half time), Z Mtchedishvili (Domon) for Gundishvili (injured 60), T Ratianidze (Beziers) for Shvelidze, M Mtiulshvili (Beziers) for Guiorgadze, E Iovadze (Agde) for Khekhelashvili (all 72).

Referee: N Williams (Wales)