Maggs hat-trick fires Ireland's demolition of feeble Fijians

Ireland 64 Fiji 17

A rampant Ireland ran in nine tries to outclass a hugely disappointing Fijian side at Lansdowne Road yesterday. The centre Kevin Maggs was the Irish hero with a hat-trick of tries, while the full-back Geordan Murphy scored two more and the stand-in captain, Brian O'Driscoll, equalled Brendan Mullins' Irish record of 17 touchdowns with his first-half try.

"I don't score very often, so it's a dream come true to get three tries out there today. It feels great," Maggs said. "Our defence was very good again today and we are all now very much looking forward to the game with Argentina next Saturday. It will be a very physical and difficult match for us."

Ireland, boosted by their victory over the world champions, Australia, a week ago, simply overpowered the Fijians, who were very poor in defence. Showing nine changes from the side which defeated the Wallabies, Ireland had the perfect start when Murphy crossed for his first try of the afternoon after just four minutes.

The home side had doubled their advantage when Maggs breached the Fijian defence following a well-timed pass from Justin Bishop. Fiji's only score of the half came after 24 minutes when the outside-half Nicky Little struck a penalty.

The one-way traffic continued when Murphy struck for his second try after a clever chip through by David Humphreys. The mercurial O'Driscoll showed the class which has made him one of the world's best centres with a fabulous run for Ireland's fourth try on the half-hour mark. Justin Bishop and Maggs added further tries to see Ireland into a comfortable 39-3 half-time lead.

The Fijians did not help their cause by some very poor tackling. However, the back-row Ratu Doviverata got in for a well-worked try four minutes after the restart. Little added the conversion. Yet Ireland were not about to ease up in front of their large home support.

A Humphreys penalty was quickly followed by a try from back-row forward Kieron Dawson. By the 55th minute the Irish lead was 54-10 after Anthony Foley barged his way over from close range.

Irish pressure continued in the final quarter as Humphreys added his third penalty on 62 minutes. There was some respite for the gutsy Fijians in the 66th minute when Isaac Mowo went in for a try which Little converted. However, Maggs added a third try, Humphreys converting.

Ireland: Tries Murphy 2, Maggs 3, B O'Driscoll, Bishop, Dawson, Foley; Conversions Humphreys 5; Penalties Humphreys 3. Fiji: Tries Doviverata, Narruhn; Conversions N Little, Serevi; Penalties N Little.

Ireland: Murphy; S Horgan, B O'Driscoll, Maggs, Bishop; Humphreys, G Easterby; Horan, Sheahan, Hayes, Cullen, O'Kelly, A Quinlan, Dawson, Foley. Replacements: S Byrne, Corrigan, M O'Driscoll, Miller, Stringer, O'Gara, Darcy.

Fiji: Narruhn, Ligairi, Satala, Bai, Lasagavibau, N Little, Rauluni, Nyholt, Smith, Cavubati, Naevo, Raiwalui, S. Tawake, Doviverata, Mocelutu. Replacements: Gadolo, Biu, Rasila, Koyamaibole, Rabaka, Mow, Serevi.

Referee: Tony Spreadbury (England).