EMERGING IRELAND RACKED up an impressive 66-0 scoreline in just 45 minutes of their opening game of the IRB Nations Cup against Russia yesterday.
The clash was abandoned early in the second half as a thunderstorm struck over Bucharest, meaning the Russians were spared any more punishment from a ruthless Irish side which had already run in 10 tries.
Andrew Conway dotted down three times for Dan McFarland’s side, while Ian Keatley, Niall Annett, Craig Gilroy [2], Robin Copeland, Tommy O’Donnell and Paul Marshall scored further tries.
Keatley was on target with five of his seven conversion attempts, while replacement JJ Hanrahan score two from two.
Ireland’s next game sees them take on Uruguay on Wednesday, before finishing against Romania on Sunday. McFarland will hope his side are faced with tougher challenges than that which they encountered against Russia.