A Josh van der Flier double ensured Ireland ended their Autumn with a record 53-7 win over Argentina at the Aviva Stadium.
Following a historic win against the All Blacks last week, Andy Farrell would have been hoping to beat Los Pumas for a clean sweep this Autumn Nations Series, and it was indeed a performance with the same level of Irish intensity as a week ago.
Ireland ran in seven tries and reached 50 points against an ill-disciplined Argentina, their record victory over Los Pumas.
Argentina could not have started better though when winger Mateo Carreras went over for an excellent early score for Los Pumas, which may have sparked bad memories of the 2015 Rugby World Cup for the Men in Green.
The Irish recovery came quickly though, with Joey Carbery stepping up in place of the injured Jonny Sexton and immediately reducing the deficit to 7-3.
It was not long before Van der Flier bundled over the try line for his first try, coming from the back of a driving maul, and the early jitters around Dublin seemed to be sorted.
Before long Irish supporters were celebrating again, when Andrew Porter went over, in what was quickly becoming a dominant forward performance from Ireland.
It got worse for Mario Ledesma’s men too, as Caelan Doris, a try-scoring hero of last week, finished excellently after a big collision to put Ireland in a totally dominant position at the break.
Argentina for all their effort, were always under pressure by an Ireland defence that seems to have improved immeasurably under Farrell and despite their attempts to get an attack going, the hosts always seemed to have a response.
A Carbery penalty after Pablo Matera saw a yellow card for a deliberate knock on seemed to effectively end all Argentine hopes, but their efforts never stopped.
Van der Flier crossed for his second try after 57 minutes to extend Ireland’s lead to 27 points before Tomas Lavanini saw a red card for a shoulder to the head of Cian Healy, leaving his side with just 14 men for the final 20 minutes.
The result of that was to be expected, with Ireland pressing for more tries to give their passionate support more to cheer about and finish the year on a high.
Replacement hooker Dan Sheehan crossed for his first Test try from the back of another driving maul with 14 minutes left on the clock with Carbery’s conversion taking the score into the 40s.
They weren’t done yet though, with another try for the forwards, this time Healy crossing the line from close range as 14-man Argentina struggled to contain Ireland’s relentless forward attack.
50 points were up when Tadhg Beirne crossed in the corner late on, to ensure Ireland earned their record victory over Los Pumas and ended an incredible Autumn Nations Series in style.
