An Ireland team missing many of their top players posted a lackluster 27-10 victory over the US in Santa Clara, California, on Sunday.
London Irish captain Bob Casey’s try in the 13th minute gave Ireland the early lead, and they led 13-0 at halftime after a try in injury time by Ian Whitten.
The US, with new coach Eddie O’Sullivan at the helm and six debutants in their starting line-up, battled hard to come back. They were victimized, however, by a poor place-kicking performance from Mike Hercus, who missed four makeable penalties.
A penalty try 13 minutes into the second half for Ireland almost put the game out of reach.
But US replacement Ata Malifa dropped a goal and set up Roland Suniula for a converted try as the hosts narrowed the gap in front of 10,000 enthusiastic spectators at Buck Shaw Stadium.
Ireland responded with a try from tour captain Rory Best.
‘HONORED’
Former coach of the Ireland team, O’Sullivan said he was “honored” to take on his native country, and his successor as Ireland coach Declan Kidney, in his first match in charge.
Kidney fielded a new-look squad, in part because of the demands of the Lions tour. They defeated Canada 25-6 in Vancouver over the weekend, but Kidney said neither match was of a standard to boast about.
“It was obviously a very poor game and there were a lot of mistakes in it,” he said.
‘BUILD-UP’
“We said this tour was part of our World Cup build-up. Really it’s a five-game tour as ourselves, the senior coaches, and a lot of this squad will be involved together at the Churchill Cup.”
“The players know themselves that they made some bad errors out there, but you do need to start from somewhere and today’s the day,” he said.
The Churchill Cup — featuring the US, Canada, England Saxons, Ireland A, Argentina Jaguars and Georgia — starts in Colorado next Wednesday.
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