Emerging Ireland off to strong start with first win in South Africa

Kenneth Fox

Emerging Ireland head coach Simon Easterby was delighted with the nature of their winning start to their tour of South Africa.

Zac Ward, Darragh Murray, Cormac Izuchukwu, Stephen Smyth and Gus McCarthy all crossed the whitewash, in a 36-points to 24 win over the Pumas.

As the Irish Examiner reports, The first of three games to be played by the side in the southern hemisphere – meetings with Western Force and The Cheetahs will ftllow on October 6th and October 9th respectively.

Having survived an early spell of pressure from Pumas, Emerging Ireland eventually established a foothold inside the opposition half. While some patience was required initially, the visitors eventually opened the scoring in the 14th minute.

After the ball had been worked wide into his hands, Ward – fresh from his exploits at the Paris Olympics with the Ireland 7s – cut inside from the left-wing and raced past a number of Pumas challenges before touching down in fine style.

Despite Sam Prendergast firing his subsequent bonus strike past the target, Emerging Ireland had laid down a marker at the Bloemfontein venue.

Munster’s Alex Kendellen was producing a typically committed performance in his role as team captain and his back-row partner Izuchukwu delivered a couple of stand-out moments in the opening period. When Emerging Ireland found themselves within inches of the Pumas line just shy of the half-hour mark, the Ulster flanker released Connacht lock Murray through a gap for their side’s second try.

Emerging Ireland’s momentum was briefly halted when superb approach play from Tino Swanepoel enabled Lundi Msenge to cross over for a converted score, but Izuchukwu ensured they reinforced their authority by driving past the Pumas whitewash on the stroke of half-time.

A determined Pumas outfit did grab additional five-pointers through Eduan Swart and Swanepoel in the closing moments, but courtesy of a 76th minute penalty try in between these scores, Emerging Ireland comfortably secured the spoils in the end.