Ireland 39 Barbarians 14:THERE WERE many aspects to admire in Ireland's comprehensive victory but the result and the game was overshadowed by the death of a close friend of Brian O'Driscoll, the Ireland captain flying home yesterday afternoon. Gavin Duffy came into the team with Shane Horgan assuming the captaincy.

While acknowledging the context of the match it would be churlish not to recognise the excellent footballing skills of the Irish team in the opening quarter and no one exemplified this more than Luke Fitzgerald. He demonstrated great feet in traffic, good awareness of his support runners, managed one sumptuous pick-up and pass off the ground and got his angles spot on defensively.

For a young player starting at outside centre for the first time for Ireland it was hugely encouraging, not alone in respect to last night's match but possibly for the Tests against New Zealand and Australia.

There were others who contributed hugely, Jamie Heaslip, Malcolm O'Kelly, Paddy Wallace, Horgan and Rory Best the standout players in a fine team performance. Aspects of this Irish performance will have pleased interim coach Michael Bradley, notably work ethic and the demonstration of a decent skill set in converting opportunities.

Ireland's attitude drew heavily on the ethos of their opponents but it was underpinned by purpose and precision rather than simply giving the ball air time for the sake of it. The opening Irish try offered a classic illustration, Tommy Bowe coming in from the blindside wing through the midfield and neatly stepping Barbarians fullback Peter Hewat to score under the posts.

He could have grabbed a second within a minute when Ireland moved ball from close to their own line, releasing Bowe who linked with Shane Horgan on halfway. Rob Kearney continued the move but pushed the pass to Bowe a little in front of the player and despite a valiant effort from the Ulster wing it spilled out of his grasp on the line.

Paddy Wallace, who had converted the opening try, added a penalty and improved upon Ireland's second try on 21 minutes. Rory Best took a quick lineout to Bob Casey, from the ruck the ball was moved wide with Fitzgerald's clever inside pass allowing Horgan to carry a couple of defenders over the line.

It took just four more minutes for Ireland to grab a third try that spanned virtually the length of the pitch. Kearney intercepted inside his 22. Bowe, Kearney again, Rory Best and Wallace combined to send Horgan in for his second try. The Irish outhalf posted the conversion and Ireland led 24-0.

The Barbarians had enjoyed their fair share of possession but on occasion forced passes, pre-empting turnovers some of which were also attributable to aggressive Irish defence. While the crowd appreciated Ireland's dedication to an expansive game the loudest cheer of the first half came in injury time when Barbarians' flanker Craig Newby powered over from close range. It was his last act. He left the field on a stretcher as Hewat converted leaving his side 24-7 adrift at the interval.

Ireland's backrow were thriving - Stephen Ferris enjoying one lung-bursting 40-metre run from inside his 22 - while the front five were willing to graft in carrying and tackling. When Irish scrumhalf Isaac Boss transgressed at a ruck, referee Andrew Small, quickly brandished the yellow card.

Afforded a little more space, the Barbarians started to get their offloading game going, something they had managed only sporadically in the opening half. This coupled with Irish players falling off a few tackles meant the Irish defence had to scramble frantically at times. On these occasions opting to kick at goal is not going to curry favour and the Kingsholm crowd howled their derision when Wallace tagged on a further three points on 52 minutes: Horgan made the sensible decision with Boss in the bin and a previous punt to touch having yielded nothing.

Ireland's willingness to counter-attack irrespective of pitch position was the catalyst for their next try, the genesis of which came from a brilliant surge by the excellent Malcolm O'Kelly. The ball was swept back to the other touchline with Wallace showing neat hands to put Bowe clear. The Ulster wing took the last tackle and offloaded to the supporting Jamie Heaslip who ran it in with Wallace again precise with the conversion.

The respective coaches began to empty the benches and defensive organisation was always going to suffer. Barbarians number eight Pedrie Wannenburg shrugged off a couple of Irish tacklers to cross for his side's second try, converted by Hewat, while a couple of minutes later Heaslip almost got in for a second try grounded just short of the line.

A flare-up on the Barbarians line was very much out of context with the general spirit in which the game was played. Tired minds and limbs meant that the quality of the match deteriorated somewhat in the last 10 minutes but Ireland's interim head coach Bradley will have been delighted that his team kept trying and were rewarded when the outstanding Heaslip did grab his second try. Jonathan Sexton hit a post with his touchline conversion.

Scoring sequence. 5 mins: Bowe try, Wallace conversion, 0-7; 10: Wallace penalty, 0-10; 21: Horgan try, Wallace conversion, 0-17; 25: Horgan try, Wallace conversion, 0-24; 40(+3): Newby try, Hewat conversion, 7-24. Half-time: 7-24. 52: Wallace penalty, 7-27; 58: Heaslip try, Wallace conversion, 7-34; 69: Wannenburg try, Hewat conversion, 14-34; 81: Heaslip try, 14-39.

IRELAND:R Kearney (Leinster); S Horgan (Leinster, captain), L Fitzgerald (Leinster), G Duffy (Connacht), T Bowe (Ulster); P Wallace (Ulster), I Boss (Ulster); B Young (Ulster), R Best (Ulster), M Ross (Harlequins); B Casey (London Irish), M O'Kelly (Leinster); S Ferris (Ulster), S Jennings (Leinster), J Heaslip (Leinster). Replacements: T Court (Ulster) for Ross 18 mins; R Caldwell (Ulster) for O'Kelly 59 mins; N Best (Ulster) for Ferris 58 mins; G Dempsey (Leinster) for Fitzgerald 63 mins; B Jackman (Leinster) for R Best (69 mins), J Sexton (Leinster) for Shane Horgan 79 mins; F Murphy (Leicester) for Boss 79 mins.

Tries:Bowe, Horgan 2, Heaslip 2

Penalties:Wallace 2

Conversions:Wallace 4

Sin bin:I Boss (Ireland) 45 mins.

BARBARIANS:P Hewat (London Irish); S Anesi (New Zealand), M Turinui (Australia, capt), J Pretorius (South Africa), L Vainikolo (England); S Larkham (Australia), M Claassens (South Africa); O le Roux (South Africa), S Bruno (France), C Visagie (South Africa); K Chesney (Saracens), R Skeate (Stormers); C Newby (New Zealand), D Croft (Australia), P Wannenburg (South Africa). Replacements: M Chapman (Brumbies) for Newby 40(+3) mins; G Jackson (Saracens); M Regan (England) for Bruno 52 mins; P Collazo (France) for le Roux 52 mins; S Dellape (Italy) for Chesney 55 mins; A Gomarsall (England) for Claassens 67 mins; Le Roux for Visagie 67 mins; T Smith (Brumbies) for Hewat 79 mins.

Tries:Newby, Wannenburg

Conversions:Hewat 2

Referee:Andrew Small (England).