Ireland began their Autumn international series with a comprehensive win over Canada in the Aviva stadium this evening.
Joe Schmidt’s men followed up their win over the All Blacks with a 52-21 victory over a dogged Canadian side in a sold out Aviva stadium. The boys in green who had an 111 year wait to beat New Zealand last week showed no signs of a hangover as they scored early on through Keith Earls before Marshall added a second to take a comfortable lead, however they were made sweat when Van der Merwe and Paris put two tries on the board for Canada.
Although Ireland retained the lead just before the break when O’Halloran burst through to leave the scores 28-14, Ireland started the second half with a high tempo and further stretched their lead after a penalty try was rewarded. However Canada showed some resilience and cut the gap once again as Evans touched down in the corner to make it 35-21 on the scoresheet.
With the game drawing to a close Ireland showed their class by capitalising on a tiring Canadian side when they scored three further tries through Marmion, O’Halloran and Tracy.
The quick fire double along with the late third left Canada on their knees and made sure Ireland ran out 52-21 victor’s in the end.