Ireland hammer Canada 50-7 in Rugby World Cup rout
Cardiff (United Kingdom) (AFP) - Six Nations champions Ireland kicked off their World Cup Pool D campaign with a resounding bonus-point 50-7 victory over Canada on Saturday.
Ireland, superior to Canada in every facet of the game after a tight opening quarter of an hour, notched up four first-half tries through Sean O'Brien, Iain Henderson, Jonathan Sexton and David Kearney, three converted by Sexton.
The first three of those tries came when Canada captain Jamie Cudmore had been yellow carded for a ruck infringement, and left the Canucks with too big a mountain to climb at 29-0 down at half-time at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
Sean Cronin crossed for Ireland's fifth try before DTH Van Der Merwe grabbed a consolation for Canada. Rob Kearney and Jared Payne and Henderson then put the icing on the Irish cake with two late tries, replacement Ian Madigan kicking three conversions of his own.
The result was a severe warning to Pool D rivals France and Italy who play later Saturday.
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