O'Mahony praises Ireland debutants after US win

Ireland captain Peter O'Mahony paid tribute to five new faces after the boot of Ian Madigan saw them seal a 15-12 win over the US Eagles in Houston.

Mike Tolkin's team just ran out of steam against a callow Irish side who were left hanging on to their three-point lead in an edgy second half.

Fly-half Madigan kicked all of the visitors' points in front of 20,181 at the BBVA Compass Stadium, a record for a United States home game, while Saracens' Chris Wyles scored all of his side's 12 points.

Five Irish players, Robbie Henshaw, Stuart Olding, Jamie Hagan, Mike Sherry and Tommy O'Donnell made their debut in the win and Munster man O'Mahony, skippering his country for the first time, was pleased for them in particular.

"It is an away from home Test win and I am thrilled to bits for the boys who won their first caps that the rest of the boys got the win on such a special day," he said.

"I'm thrilled to bit for them, but the overall thing is we got a win away from home, it was a tough game and we expected nothing less.

"They have really improved over the last 12 to 18 months, they have been really pushing on. It was tough out there, the conditions were tough and the ball was really slippy."