Head coach Joe Schmidt was delighted with the impact his new Ireland additions had in Saturday’s 54-7 thrashing of Italy at Soldier Field in Chicago.
Jordan Larmour scored a sensational second-half hat-trick in his first Ireland start, while there were also debuts for Will Addison and Ross Byrne in second-half appearances off the bench.
Reflecting on the overall performance, Schmidt had mixed feelings about the first-half display, but was delighted with the way things clicked into gear after the break.
“It was topsy-turvy first half and a bit frustrating, I felt a bit sorry for the crowd because they didn’t have too much to enthuse over,” Schmidt said.
“We stagnated as the half went on and the whole thing became quite stodgy but we got our tempo in the second half.
“That built a bit of confidence for Luke (McGrath) and Joey (Carbery) to go after the game.
“There were obviously a few stand-out performers, the way Jordan (Larmour) finished that last try was spectacular.
“You don’t see that too often in an international. A guy beating the number of players he did and cramping up at the end, he was getting pretty tired after a fair bit of running in that game!
“It was great for them (Addison and Byrne) too, Ross (Byrne) kicked really well and got himself into the game pretty quickly.
“As did Will, he will be frustrated about a couple of things, but at the same time he looks sharp out there. He was a bit limited for chances but I thought they both acquitted themselves well.”