Hugo Keenan hat-trick leads Ireland to 42-12 victory over Argentina

Hugo Keenan scored three tries as Ireland defeated Argentina 42-12 in Dublin to begin the home leg of their Nations Championship campaign with a bonus-point victory. According to BBC Sport’s match report, Dan Sheehan, Sam Prendergast and Ronan Kelleher also scored for Andy Farrell’s side, while Mateo Carreras supplied both of Argentina’s tries.

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Argentina struck first after a sustained attack ended with Tomas Albornoz kicking towards the corner. Carreras beat Craig Casey to the ball and touched down, but Ireland soon responded. Casey won a turnover penalty, and the ensuing line-out attack brought Robert Baloucoune and Mack Hansen into the move that sent Keenan over for his first try of the evening.

Ireland then took control before the interval. Nick Timoney helped create Sheehan’s score from a line-out move, while Ryan Baird’s line-out steal began the attack that ended with Hansen setting up Keenan again. Those three converted tries gave the hosts a 21-5 half-time advantage. Argentina’s problems deepened when Justo Piccardo was shown a yellow card and captain Julian Montoya failed a head injury assessment before the break.

Prendergast extended the lead within two minutes of the restart, running through a gap for his first international try and securing Ireland’s bonus point. Carreras answered with his second after a run by Santiago Chocobares, but Keenan completed his hat-trick following an offload from Baird. The full-back’s three scores took his Nations Championship tally to five, following earlier tries against Australia and New Zealand.

Kelleher added Ireland’s sixth try from a maul after Argentina’s Elias had been yellow-carded for a high tackle on Keenan. Ireland also had a player sent to the sin-bin, with replacement prop Sam Illo penalised on the hour for driving early at a maul. Prendergast finished with five conversions and Ciaran Frawley added another, as the hosts converted all six of their tries.

The result left Argentina without an away victory over Ireland in 12 attempts, BBC Sport reported. Ireland moved to the top of the northern hemisphere standings before France, Scotland and England played their weekend fixtures. Farrell’s team next host Fiji, followed by South Africa in Dublin on 21 November. Argentina continue their trip with matches against Italy and France.