A Samoan Stroll

Okay, Joe Schmidt was absolutely correct when he stated that the victory against Samoa was "patchy". Indeed it was. However, to start our autumn internationals with a handsome triumph that included lots of tries and forty points is a step in the right direction.

Admittedly, Australia will prove to be a significant step-up from Samoa, but to coin the old adage, you can only beat what's put in front of you. The Wallabies will certainly be chastened by their series defeat against the Welsh Lions and their setback at Twickenham too. The consensus of opinion is that the Aussie backs are dangerous, but that their pack is distinctly average. Speaking of forwards, debutant Jack McGrath [filling in for Leinster team-mate Cian Healy] did himself proud with a man of the match performance. It was also encouraging to see talismen Sean O'Brien and Paul O'Connell get the opportunity to flex their muscles and stretch their legs. Gordon D'Arcy and Fergus McFadden played quite well while their provincial colleague Dave Kearney rounded off the proceedings with a brace of tries. The major blot on the landscape was the injury to Ulster's Chris Henry who now takes his place in Ireland's growing casualty department.

Ultimately, most teams are a bit rusty when they combine for the first time in many months, and so the performance was far from the optimum, but nevertheless the final score of forty points to nine is more than satisfactory. The match details are as follows:

IRELAND 40 Samoa 9; at Lansdowne Road; Saturday 9th November 2013

15 Kearney.R

14 Bowe (replaced by Kearney.D [2 TRIES])

13 O'Driscoll

12 D'Arcy

11 McFadden [TRY]

10 Jackson [3 penalties, 3 conversions]

9 Murray

8 Heaslip

7 Henry (replaced by O'Brien [TRY])

6 O'Mahony [TRY]

5 Toner

4 McCarthy

3 Ross

2 Best

1 McGrath