Andrew Conway only made his Ireland debut in March but he is now a serious player in this team.
Conway had a fine game on the right wing for Ireland against the Springboks, last week, but got a chance at fullback for the visit of Fiji. He was the best Irish player on show and made a number of crucial plays in attack and defence.
Following Ireland’s narrow victory over Fiji, Joe Schmidt was thoroughly impressed with the Dubliner. He said:
“Andrew was one of few to start last week too, and he is brave to a fault.
“He competes for everything in the air. His acceleration makes him a real running threat when he has time and space and I thought he threatened their tryline a few times and asked a few questions of them.”
Having made a couple of carries to get Ireland well over the gainline, Conway then showed up in a well worked move, straightened up and timed a pass that made it simple for Dave Kearney to score in the corner.
In the second half, with Ireland level for long stages and under the pump, he made a couple of big hits against Fijian men that quite simply dwarfed him. He was brave, backed his technique and the support of his teammates. He only had to slow these lads down until the cavalry arrived.
With the scores level at 17-17, Conway was faced with a charging Timoci Nagusa – one try scored and hungry for more – and the entire Aviva Stadium braced for carnage. Conway set himself and timed his tackle to perfection, driving up into Nagusa’s rib-cage and stopping him dead. Ireland could thank him later; Conway was up and barking instructions.
He went so close to being the hero, soon after, when he broke up the left wing and grubbered a kick towards the tryline. It bounced and bounced and looked for all the world to be a beauty but whomped off the corner flag and went out for a line-out as Conway closed in for the kill.
It would be left to Munster teammate Ian Keatley to kick Ireland home – 23 to 20 – and leave Fiji cursing the wind that left their sails, and the set-pieces squandered, in the closing minutes.
There was still a vital Conway play, with three minutes remaining, that was appreciated by the home support. Keatley kicked superbly towards the sideline to force the Fijians 10 metres back inside their half but they took a quick throw and were on the counter when Conway, having sprinted forward, dragged Nikola Matawalu to the deck.
It was his final, meaningful contribution and his display was acknowledged with a warm cheer when it was announced on the public address system that he was man-of-the-match.
Conway was the best of Ireland’s bunch, this evening, but his performance was not flawless. He missed a couple of tackles and his kicking out of hand needs work.
It is likely that he will play on the right wing for Ireland against Argentina next week but many would prefer him to start at fullback ahead of Rob Kearney.
Schmidt is crazy if he starts rob kearney for Ireland again..Conway/Zebo are FAR superior players in attack #IREvFij #Irishrugby
— Niall Purcell (@purcelln421) November 18, 2017
https://twitter.com/woggas/status/931954902451896320
https://twitter.com/ronandusty/status/931933303233548288
With Joey Carbery now injured and out of the Guinness Series, Schmidt could be tempted to leave Conway covering the back three positions on the bench.
That would be unwise, though. Conway had to wait a long time to make his Ireland debut but he is now very much part of Schmidt’s plans when drafting up his starting XV.
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