Ireland coach Joe Schmidt was pleased with his side's 49-7 win over Georgia at the Aviva Stadium today despite the hosts taking a while to get into their stride.
Ireland only led 9-0 at half time but a late flurry of tries, including two for the impressive Felix Jones, helped them post a good score and keep the momentum built in last weekend's victory over South Africa going into Saturday's showdown with Australia.
Speaking to RTE, Schmidt said: “We didn’t over try but we were probably a bit too conservative if anything, not wanting to get too exuberant and loose with the ball.
“In a game like that you know they arent going to give you anything easily so it takes a time to break them down
“I think we took that time and we stayed well structured and I think that was one of the reasons why at the end of the game we got the reward.”
Georgia scrum-half Giorgi Begadze and number-eight Dimitri Basilaia were both sent to the sin bin in quick succession either side of half time which helped Ireland seize control of the game and Schmidt put this down to the dominance of Ireland's pack.
He said: “I think those sin binnings don’t come without the pressure we put on in the first half.
“When they got the yellow card just before half time that was probably a spring in our step coming in
“While it was only a few pens we were ahead at the same time we felt that we’d have an opportunity in the second half.”
Schmidt also praised the performance of debutant Dave Foley, who was givem the man of the match award, he said: "Dave Foley got player of the match and fair play to him.
“It was a titanic performance from Dave. I thought he called the lineouts really well, he had a super game.
“But there were a number of players who really worked very hard. Felix Jones showed up all over the place to take balls in the air . on the ground and dot a couple down on the ground as well.”
So, next up Australia, and preparation begins in ernest tomorrow. Schmidt said: “We’ll look to recover and rest up a bit tonight then look forward to Australia starting tomorrow afternoon when we get together.”
Skipper for the day Eoin Reddan is unlikely to start against Australia on Saturday with the rested Conor Murray coming back into the fold, but he's relishing the chance to go head-to-head with Australia coach and his former Leinster boss Michael Cheika.
Reddan said: “Obviously knowing Cheiks I certainly know he’ll be up for it.
“He’s a very smart man and thankfully we’ve got one as well so it will be an interesting battle from top to bottom.”
