RUGBY
Carbery’s injury mars Irish win
By Daire Walsh
IRELAND survived a scare at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday evening, when a 73rd-minute Ian Keatley penalty helped them to record a narrow 23-20 success over Fiji in the Guinness Series.
Following his side’s 38-3 demolition of South Africa at the same venue seven days earlier, Joe Schmidt opted to make a whopping 13 changes to Ireland’s starting line-up. After impressing with a four-point haul in a brief cameo against the Springboks, Athy’s Joey Carbery was selected at out-half alongside Connacht star Kieran Marmion.
Andrew Conway was the only returning player in the Irish defence, while the towering Devin Toner was the sole survivor in a pack that featured no less than six Leinster players. The province also had a strong representation amongst the Irish replacements, where Kill native James Tracy joined props Cian Healy and Tadhg Furlong.
Luke McGrath and Robbie Henshaw were also in reserve, but there was no place for Kildare man Adam Byrne. He will be aiming to make his international bow against Argentina this Saturday, but in his absence, Carbery was eager to show that he could be a viable alternative in the fly-half position.
The 22-year-old former Blackrock College student carried powerfully into the Fijian ’22’, and after he passed out wide to Darren Sweetnam (making his first start in an Irish shirt), the Munster winger comfortably crossed over in the right-corner. Carbery was off-target from the subsequent touchline conversion, but even though Fiji reduced their lead with a successful Ben Volavola penalty, Ireland responded with their second try on 23 minutes.
Marmion, Stuart McCloskey and Conway were all heavily involved, and Dave Kearney was in the right place to touch down on the left-flank. Carbery was unfortunate to see his latest bonus strike rebounding off the post, but following an excellent breakaway score from Jack Conan (giving him his fourth try in just five caps), he split the uprights with consummate ease.
This appeared to put Ireland in a commanding position, but after powerhouse winger Nemani Nadolo set-up Henry Seniloli for a converted try underneath the posts, Fiji reduced their interval deficit to seven points (17-10).
They threatened to spoil the party after the restart when Timoci Nagusa intercepted a wayward Kearney pass before racing away for an easy score (converted by Volavola), and this suddenly put the side on level terms.
It took Ireland a while to settle back into usual rhythm, and as the half wore on, the Fijian defence were shutting down the avenues of attack. Replacement out-half Keatley (who deputised for Carbery after he picked up an arm injury) finally moved them back into the ascendancy with a penalty on 66 minutes, and although Volavola replied with a similar effort at the opposite end, Keatley was once again on target with a second kick at goal.
This offered Ireland some much-needed breathing space, and with the likes of Tracy and Healy making an impact from the bench, the hosts squeezed over the line.