Ireland 64 Fiji 17
Rampant Ireland ran in nine tries to completely outclass a hugely disappointing Fijian side at Lansdowne Road this afternoon.
Centre Kevin Maggs was the Irish hero with a hat trick of tries; full-back Geordan Murphy grabbed two more and stand-in captain Brian O'Driscoll's first-half try saw him equal Brendan Mullins' Irish record of 17 touchdowns.
Ireland, boosted by their victory over world champions Australia a week ago, simply overpowered the Fijians who were very poor in defence.
The win was exactly what Eddie O'Sullivan's side had been seeking ahead of next Saturday's showdown with Argentina in Dublin.
Ireland, showing nine changes from the side which defeated the Wallabies, got off to 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 man of the match 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 outside half Nicky Little converted a penalty attempt.
However 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 of the game on the half-hour mark.
Fiji, who conceded 58 points against Wales a week ago, simply had no answer to the slick Irish back division. 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, they did have something to cheer about soon after the break when back-row Ratu Doviverata got in for a well-worked try four minutes after the restart.
Little added the conversion points to put a more respectable look on the scoreboard. However, 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.
The relentless Irish pressure continued in the final quarter as Humphreys added his third penalty goal on 62 minutes. There was some respite for the gutsy Fijians in the 66th minute when Isaac Mow got in for a try which Little converted.
However, Maggs had the last laugh when notching his third try. Humphreys added the conversion points to see Ireland run out very comfortable winners.
Scorers:
Ireland
Tries:Geordan Murphy (2), Justin Bishop, BrianO'Driscoll, Kevin Maggs (3), Kieron Dawson, Anthony Foley
Conversions:David Humphreys (5);
Penalties:Humphreys (3)
Fiji
Tries:Ratu Doviverata, Joseph Narruhn;
Conversions:Nicky Little, Waisale Serevi;
Penalty:Little
Half-time: 39-3