Free-scoring Irish rout Fijians
Ireland ran in six tries — former Cork hurler Darren Sweetnam got two of them — as Ireland won both of their opening matches for the first time in the six year history of the competition.
But if they are to reach the semi-finals of the tournament for the first time then they will have to continue to produce special performances.
“When we were handed the pool it was quite daunting, but very exciting to play three southern hemisphere teams, to go toe to toe with them, particularly on the hard firm grounds here in France,” said Ruddock.
“There is a lot of confidence in the squad there now to take us into a fierce battle against New Zealand, that’s going to be the ultimate test,” he added.
Ulster’s Rory Scholes brought his total tries in this campaign to three with a second-half brace. Prop Chris Taylor and flanker Dan Leavy chipped in with the others.
After Tom Daly put Ireland in front on 12 minutes, Sweetnam dotted down in the corner four minutes later and Daly made it 11-3 on the half hour after Waqa had got Fiji off the mark.
Ireland continued to be patient in their build-up and got a stranglehold as Fiji’s discipline deteriorated — they conceded a dozen penalties to Ireland’s four in the opening half — and Daly made it 14-3 at the break from 25 metres.
Ireland used their dominant scrum to wrap up the game after the restart, opting to force the Fijians to pack down in a series of penalties.
Scorers for Ireland: Tries: Sweetnam (2), Scholes (2), Taylor, Leavy. Cons: Daly, Scannell
Pens: Daly (3), Scannell.
Scorers for Fiji: Pens: Waqa (2)
IRELAND: D Leader (Galwegians/Connacht); D Sweetnam (UCC/Munster), M Roche (Lansdowne/Connacht), T Daly (Lansdowne/Leinster), R Scholes (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster); S Crosbie (Old Belvedere/Leinster), D Shanahan (Clontarf/Leinster); E Byrne (UCD/Leinster), B Byrne (UCD/Leinster), C Taylor (Malone/Ulster); G Thornbury (UCD/Leinster), S McCarthy (Shannon/Munster); C Joyce (Malone/Ulster), D Leavy (UCD/Leinster), J O’Donoghue (UL Bohs/Munster).
Replacements: L McGrath (UCD/Leinster) for Shanahan (53), J van der Flier (UCD/Leinster) for Joyce (59), R Scannell (Dolphin/Munster) for Daly (61), R Furniss (Worcester/Exile) for Taylor (65), J Donnan (Ballynahinch/Ulster) for Thornbury (66), D Panter (Corinthians/Connacht) for Scholes (66), G McGuigan (Newcastle Falcons/Exile) for B Byrne (68), P Dooley (Lansdowne/Leinster) for E Byrne (68).
FIJI: R Rokoduru; M Qionimacawa, N Kunavore, A Tabualevu, E Ratucove; F Seru, E Waqa; J Ravula, T Vatubua, M Doge; E Macu, K Tokalau; L Bolenaivalu, J Baleidau, P Yato.
Replacements: Z Lee for Doge (h-t), J King for Rokoduru (47), P Cakoba for Vatubua (60), M Vunibaka for Yato (62), D Bower for Waqa (65), J Douglas for Seru (65), A Robarobalevu for Ravula (70), S Kerekere for Tokalau (72).
Referee: S Kubo (Japan).
