Andrew Conway scored a hat-trick as Ireland’s second-stringers thrashed the USA 57-14 in Dublin on Saturday.
It was Ireland’s 18th win in their last 19 Tests and brought the USA’s nine-match winning streak to an end.
The Americans put up a big fight early on, with a try from hooker Joe Taufete’e and a penalty try resulting in a 14-14 scoreline after 22 minutes.
But Ireland scored a third try to take a 24-14 lead at the break and totally dominated the second half to secure a convincing win.
Conway scored his side’s first two tries, in the second and 16th minutes, and completed his hat-trick in the 76th, which earned him the Man of the Match award.
South African lock Quinn Roux, who played for the Stormers in 2012, also crossed the line for the Irish.
Ireland – Tries: Andrew Conway (3), Jack Conan, Tadhg Beirne, Stuart McCloskey, Quinn Roux, John Ryan. Conversions: Joey Carbery (7). Penalty: Carbery.
USA – Tries: Joe Taufete’e, penalty try. Conversion: Will Magie.
Ireland – 15 Will Addison, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Darren Sweetnam, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 John Cooney, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Jordi Murphy, 6 Rhys Ruddock (c), 5 Iain Henderson, 4 Tadhg Beirne, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Dave Kilcoyne.
Subs: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Cian Healy, 18 John Ryan, 19 Quinn Roux, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Sam Arnold.
USA – 15 Will Hooley, 14 Blaine Scully (c), 13 Bryce Campbell, 12 Paul Lasike, 11 Marcel Brache, 10 Will Magie, 9 Shaun Davies, 8 Cam Dolan, 7 Hanco Germishuys, 6 John Quill, 5 Nick Civetta, 4 Greg Peterson, 3 Paul Mullen, 2 Joe Taufete’e, 1 Titi Lamositele.
Subs: 16 Dylan Fawsitt, 17 Chance Wenglewski, 18 Dino Waldren, 19 Samu Manoa, 20 David Tameilau, 21 Ruben de Haas, 22 Gannon Moore, 23 Ryan Matyas.
Photo: Brendan Moran/Getty Images