Keenan marks comeback with three tries
Hugo Keenan, back in test rugby after more than a year sidelined by injury, scored three tries as Ireland overwhelmed Argentina 42-12 in their Nations Championship fixture in Dublin. The hosts ran in six tries in all, opening their November programme in convincing style. Keenan's treble was the standout individual contribution of an afternoon in which Ireland controlled the contest.[S1][S2][S3][S4][S5][S6][S7]
The margin reflected a one-sided match in which Argentina struggled to contain the Irish attack. Ireland's six-try haul gave the scoreline a lopsided look and left the visitors with little to show from the trip. Coverage of the game centred on Keenan's hat-trick and on the breadth of Ireland's scoring.[S1][S6][S7][S8]
Top of the table, with Fiji and South Africa next
The win lifted Ireland to first place in the Nations Championship northern hemisphere standings, ahead of the weekend's remaining fixtures. Their November campaign continues against Fiji on Saturday week, after which they meet world champions South Africa a fortnight on. Those two matches will say more about where Andy Farrell's team stands than the Argentina result did.[S1]
Even so, questions were raised about whether Ireland had been as ruthless as the scoreline suggested, with BBC coverage framing the 42-12 win around that theme. The result was emphatic, but the standard of the opposition and the margin of error left room for debate about how complete the performance really was.[S8]
