Ireland opened their November Nations Championship campaign with a dominant 42-12 win over Argentina in Dublin on Friday, running in six tries to move to the top of the northern hemisphere standings.
Hugo Keenan, returning from a lengthy injury absence, scored three tries in his first home test in over a year. His first came from a sweeping move involving Rob Baloucoune and Mack Hansen — himself also back from a long stint on the sideline — before Keenan produced a brilliant individual effort for his second, beating three defenders to touch down. Sam Prendergast converted both.
Dan Sheehan also crossed after Nick Timoney had broken the line, while Prendergast added a try of his own early in the second half — a solo burst through the Pumas defence for his first international score, two years on from his test debut against the same opposition. Prendergast converted his own try to extend Ireland's lead to 28-5.
Argentina had made a promising start, Tomas Albornoz's crossfield kick allowing Mateo Carreras to outpace Craig Casey in the corner for a 5-0 lead, but the Pumas were quickly overrun. The loss of captain Julian Montoya to a failed HIA compounded Argentina's difficulties, with Pablo Matera taking over the captaincy mid-match. Persistent indiscipline drew a yellow card for Justo Piccardo, and new defence coach Shaun Edwards watched on from the stands as his side conceded penalty after penalty.
Argentina remain fourth in the southern hemisphere table and next face Italy and France. Ireland's attention now turns to Fiji next Saturday before hosting world champions South Africa a fortnight later.