Ireland beat Fiji 43-15 as McNabney injury rules out South Africa appearance

Ireland defeated Fiji 43-15 in Dublin on Saturday to maintain their challenge in the Nations Championship, but lost debutant James McNabney to a head injury. BBC Sport reported that the 23-year-old Ulster back-row forward will not be available for next week's match against South Africa after his first international appearance ended shortly after he came off the bench.

Watch the highlights:

The result was more comfortable than Ireland's early performance, with Fiji briefly moving ahead during the first half. According to the Press Association roundup published by the Guardian, Tommy O'Brien scored the opening try before Josua Tuisova and Peceli Yato responded for the visitors. Robert Baloucoune crossed twice before the interval to help Ireland recover from that setback.

Ireland then added tries through Ronan Kelleher, Andrew Porter, O'Brien and Nick Timoney in the second half to establish a decisive advantage. The win kept their hopes of reaching the competition's final alive. They finished level with second-placed England on 20 points in the northern hemisphere standings, one point behind France, the Guardian's report said.

Andy Farrell acknowledged that the final margin overstated Ireland's control of the contest. BBC Sport reported that his team had led only 17-15 at half-time. The Ireland coach credited Fiji's strength in contact, aerial work and breakdown performance, and said his players had learned lessons that they needed to apply against the Springboks.

Fiji coach Jake White was frustrated by his team's choices near the Irish line, particularly a decision to take a tap penalty instead of a scrum. He argued that South Africa would be more likely to persist with scrums or choose an attacking line-out in similar positions.

Elsewhere in the competition, Argentina beat Italy 19-14 in Genoa, the Guardian's roundup reported. Monty Ioane put Italy ahead before Bautista Bernasconi's converted try levelled the match at half-time. Rodrigo Isgro and Matteo Carreras then scored as Argentina built a 19-7 lead. Italy received a penalty try, but Argentina held on despite yellow cards for Joel Sclavi and Efraín Elías.