Dunmanway's Darren Sweetnam will remember his first start for Ireland when they took on Fiji in the autumn Guinness Series at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday evening.
Dunmanway's Darren Sweetnam will remember his first start for Ireland when they took on Fiji in the autumn Guinness Series at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday evening.
It was a hard-fought game for Joe Schmidt's side, which showed 13 changes from the side that beat South Africa a week ago, as Ireland faced a very physical Fijian side.
As he gained his second senior cap, Darren Sweetnam scored his first try for Ireland at this level, having been set up beautifully by Joey Carbery. The first half also saw tries for Ireland scored by Dave Kearney and Jack Conan, the latter of which was converted by Carbery, which saw Ireland leading 17-10 at half-time.
Fiji made it difficult for Ireland in the second half and levelled the scores on two occasions. Ireland's only points in the second half were two penalties from the boot of Ian Keatley, who came on as a sub for the injured Carbery. Munster's Andrew Conway, received the Man of the Match accolade as Ireland held out to win 23-20.
