0910: Now then, apparently there's a contest between
South Africa and Wales
in Wellington coming up, so I'll hand you over to my colleague
James Standley who will guide you through the action [mobile users go to the Sport front page and website users click on the blue-tinged link above]. I have a feeling this one will be a bit tasty. Bye.
0858: Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll: "We didn't play well. We really had to fight for our win. I suppose it's job done but we've got a hell of a lot to improve on. Our set-piece was very good but we turned ball over way too much. We didn't get any continuity. They were tough conditions but we were just a little bit loose. At least we've got 80 mins under our belts. The initial nerves of playing at the World Cup are out of the way now."
0854: Despite improving in the second half, it was not the best of displays from Ireland. They made 14 handling errors to the USA's five. It was a bit wet out there, so they may point to that. Jonathan Sexton did not find his kicking range today either. Will they start with Ronan O'Gara for the next match?
FULL-TIME Ireland 22-10 USA
79 mins: TRY Ireland 22-10 USA Joy for USA.
Paul Emerich intercepts the ball and runs about 40 metres to touch down under the posts. The try is converted which brings a smile to the Stars and Stripes.
76 mins: Ireland 22-3 USA Hayden Smith concedes a penalty for joining the maul incorrectly as Ireland attempted to drive for the line. Ireland elect for the scrum from about five metres out. The attack breaks down - big chance wasted.
70 mins: Ireland 22-3 USA USA and Ireland look tired now. The Americans lose control of the scrum then Ireland lose control of the ball. There are still 10 minutes remaining - energy sapping conditions.
67 mins: Ireland 22-3 USA It's surely bonus point o'clock time for Ireland. Another try will be good for the confidence of an Ireland team who will admit they were not at the races in the opening period. There is good movement on the left but the ball slips out of Brian O'Driscoll's hands as he attempts to pass the ball back inside. Meanwhile, Andrew Trimble comes on for Geordan Murphy.
60 mins: TRY Ireland 22-3 USA Tommy Bowe goes over again. This time it's good running rugby. The ball is fed out to O'Gara who flings it left, eventually finding Bowe who finds Brian O'Driscoll far left. O'Driscoll returns the ball to Bowe who powers over. Ronan O'Gara finds his range with a beautifully judged conversion.
56 mins: TRY Ireland 15-3 USA Hooker
Rory Best controls the maul from a line-out and pops out like a jack-in-the-box to go over on the left. Time for Ronan O'Gara to test his kicking boots - the length is good but not the accuracy.
55 mins: PENALTY Ireland 10-3 USA Ireland are penalised for not rolling away so it's penalty time for the Eagles. James Paterson steps up and puts the first points on the board for his team.
50 mins: Ireland 10-0 USA Ronan O'Gara replaces Jonathan Sexton - expected really after Sexton's poor kicking efforts. Eoin Reddan comes on for Conor Murray at scrum-half.
45 mins: Ireland 10-0 USA Guess what? USA concede another penalty. Jonathan Sexton lines up to take the kick again. It's fairly central but the Leinster man pulls his effort wide - cue groans from the Irish support.
43 mins: Ireland 10-0 USA USA's Mike MacDonald gives away a penalty for front row collapsing scrum, but Jonathan Sexton misses again with his kick. Time for veteran Ronan O'Gara to take over?
41 mins: Ireland 10-0 USAUSA's Roland Suniula restarts the game.
ptrsmpsn on Twitter:
"2. Number of passes Tommy Bowe tried to catch with his face in the first half. Unorthodox."
0753: Thanks to the
official Rugby World Cup site,
I've found out that had Tommy Bowe not scored a try, 3-0 would have been the lowest half-time score in RWC history. In 2007, Japan led Canada 5-0 at the break, which is still the record - well done you two teams, I think.
40 mins: TRY HALF-TIME Ireland 10-0 USA
39 mins: TRY Ireland 10-0 USAPatient build-up from Ireland leads to the opening try. Jonathan Sexton and Rory Best are involved before
Tommy Bowe, who had come off the wing, jinks inside before going over. Sexton converts. Worried Ireland? What worries?
36 mins: Ireland 3-0 USAJonathan Sexton tries to alleviate the frustration with a kick into the corner meant for Tommy Bowe, but it's misjudged and goes into touch despite the valiant efforts of his team-mate.
32 mins: Ireland 3-0 USAI'm sorry to say that this isn't pretty. A lot of errors from both teams have contributed to the messy display. Ireland's Tommy Bowe heads the list of handling errors with three - not something to be proud of.
30 mins: Ireland 3-0 USAIreland on the attack again. Gordon D'Arcy is about 10 metres out and passes the ball out the back of his hands but Tommy Bowe can't collect. Agonising.
25 mins: Ireland 3-0 USAIt's pelting it down in New Plymouth and apparently it's raining in Wellington too where Wales play South Africa at 0930 BST. We will have live text commentary on this website.
allsoe on Twitter:
"Late in joining due to chasing bird round house brought in by cat! But come Ireland."
18 mins: Ireland 3-0 USAApologies all, I was still giving you BST love with my times - we're back with minutes of the match now, so give your browser a little refresh. Back to the match, the USA are in the opposition 22 and Rory Best is penalised for being offside. Big chance for James Paterson but he misses with his kick.
17 mins: PENALTY Ireland 3-0 USAJonathan Sexton finally slots over much to the delight of the Ireland fans in the stadium. I don't think I would have missed that one though.
16 mins: Ireland 0-0 USAIreland win another penalty after Paul Emerick is penalised for holding on - they make some yards with the kick into touch and pile more pressure on USA.
14 mins: Ireland 0-0 USAHe picked the right club, but Jonathan Sexton fails with the accuracy after his penalty-kick from 40 metres out and dead centre drifts wide of the right-hand stick.
8 mins: Ireland 0-0 USAIreland putting pressure on their opponents.
8 mins: Ireland 0-0 USAAs many kickers have already discovered at this World Cup, the wind can play havoc with your judgement. USA concede a penalty for scrum wheeling, but Jonathan Sexton kicks wide from 40 metres out on the right.
4 mins: Ireland 0-0 USAThe USA have won just 2 of 17 of their RWC fixtures, of teams to have played more than 10 matches only Japan and Namibia have a worse record.
0703: Ireland 0-0 USAIreland kick off the match.
0657: The teams and the crowd inside Stadium Taranaki pay their respects to the victims of the
11 September 2001
attacks in the United States, on the 10th anniversary.
0656: USA coach, and former Ireland coach, Eddie O'Sullivan said personal emotions will not be a factor. "I wouldn't say I have mixed emotions," he said. "It's not an emotional feeling. It feels a bit strange because I know many of those lads pretty well. But it's not about me, it's about the American team. These lads have put in huge effort to make it here to the World Cup."
0652: Ireland scrum-half Conor Murray makes his full Test debut at Stadium Taranaki, starting alongside Jonathan Sexton at half-back. With Sean O'Brien and Rob Kearney rested for another week, Shane Jennings and Geordan Murphy are picked at openside and full-back.
Ireland: Murphy, Bowe, O'Driscoll, D'Arcy, Earls, Sexton, Murray, Court, Best, Ross, O'Callaghan, O'Connell, Ferris, Jennings, Heaslip.
Replacements: Flannery, Buckley, Ryan, Leamy, Reddan, O'Gara, Trimble.
USA: Scully, Ngwenya, Emerick, A. Suniula, Paterson, R. Suniula, Petri, MacDonald, Thiel, Pittman, van der Giessen, Smith, Stanfill, Clever, Johnson.
Replacements: Biller, Moeakiola, LaValla, Danahy, Usasz, Malifa, Hawley.
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
0646: Australia will be the obvious favourites to win the group and showed glimpses of things to come with a superb second-half display against
Italy. After the 32-6 win, coach
Robbie Deans said: "We did well in second half but not the first half. It took us a while to settle." James O'Connor, who grabbed a try, looked impressive when he came on for Anthony Faingaa, while Digby Ioane showed awesome pace and power for the fourth.
0640 BST: Hello again. It's
Ireland v USA from New Plymouth. Ireland failed to make it past the World Cup pool stages for the first time ever in 2007. They found themselves in a tough group on that occasion, but this one is much less of a challenge. No, that's a lie. This group features the aforementioned opponents, Australia, Italy and Russia. Ireland's fate may be decided in their last match against Italy.
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