IRELAND 110 USA 10
IAN GOLDEN, WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong, Friday
IRELAND achieved their record win and points tally with a dominant World Cup start over USA.
Set just last year in Cardiff, when they beat Scotland 92-20 in the Celtic Cup, both records were secured with less than ten minutes remaining.
USA took an early lead when Antoine Gray touched down when under pressure, but Ireland weren’t behind for long as skipper Joe Calcott scored in the corner.
The three-time Celtic Cup champions then took full control and raced to a 66-6 lead by half-time.
Calcott scored four more times before the break, with Cian Horgan also going over for five tries. Toby Burton-Carter grabbed a brace in quick succession midway through the half.
Calcott scored a couple of quick tries after the interval but then the scoring slowed down considerably, and it wasn’t until the hour mark that Horgan scored Ireland’s next try.
USA soon registered their second, through Jesse Lind on 64 minutes, only for Tom Martin to twice reply – the latter try collapsing the posts.
After they’d been rebuilt, Johnston’s kick levelled the Irish points-in-a-game record. then Jack Mangan’s first try of the game broke the record.
Martin’s hat-trick try then brought up the century and Johnston completed the scoring on the hooter with a deserved try.
IRELAND: 9 Joe Calcott, 5 Mel Griffith, 2 Cian Horgan, 4 Toby Burton-Carter, 8 Peter Johnston. Subs (all used): 6 Tom Martin, 7 Phil Roberts, 12 Jack Mangan
Tries: Calcott (5, 14, 25, 30, 38, 43, 46), Horgan (10, 12, 18, 33, 35, 60), Burton-Carter (21, 23), Martin (66, 71, 76), Mangan (74), Johnston (80); Goals: Johnston 9/11, Horgan 1/2, Roberts 5/7
USA: 5 Jesse Lind, 1 Mackenzie Johnson, 3 Jabrier Lee, 10 Bill Johnstone, 11 Andy Kingsley. Subs: 4 Freddie Smith (not used), 8 Brent Hawkins, 12 Antoine Gray
Tries: Gray (3), Lind (64); Goals: Johnstone 1/1, Kingsley 0/1
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 6-6, 12-6, 18-6, 24-6, 30-6, 34-6, 38-6, 44-6, 48-6, 54-6, 60-6, 66-6; 70-6, 78-6, 82-6, 82-10, 86-10, 92-10, 98-10, 104-10, 110-10
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Players of the Match
Ireland: Joe Calcott; USA: Antoine Gray
Penalty count: 13-4; Half-time: 66-6; Referees: Ollie Crookshank and Stephane Vincent; Attendance: 1,008
