Horgan brace helps Ireland to easy win over Barbarians
Horgan crossed the whitewash twice for Ireland
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Tuesday, 27, May 2008 10:37
Shane Horgan scored twice for Ireland as their under-strength side proved too good against a wayward Barbarian side, winning 39-14 at Kingsholm.
Horgan touched down twice early in the game as Ireland raced out to a 24-0 lead. After the break they were able to relax but still added two more tries thanks to Jamie Heaslip.
Brian O'Driscoll was a late withdrawal from the game following the death of a close friend, leaving Horgan to captain the side.
Despite being without any of the players who helped Munster lift the Heineken Cup against Toulouse on Saturday, Ireland were able to dominate the first half.
Winger Tommy Bowe took advantage of a missed tackle by Sosene Anesi to score their first try after just four minutes. The Ulster player could have doubled the score a few minutes later but dropped the ball with the try line at his mercy.
Horgan burst through more poor Baa-Baas tackling to score his opening try midway through the first half before Rob Kearney set him up for his second moments later.
The fly-half intercepted the ball inside his own 22 and released Horgan who had the necessary pace to reach the Barbarian's try line before any defenders could catch him.
Craig Newby got the Barbarians on the scoresheet just before half time but sustained a nasty blow in the process of scoring. The All Black was stretchered off and taken to hospital during the break.
At the start of the second period Ireland had Isaac Boss sin-binned but the Baa-Baas could not exploit their numerical advantage.
Heaslip got Ireland back on the scoreboard with a try from close-range before Pedrie Wannenburg bundled over for the Baa-Baas' second try of the match.
It was too little too late from the travelling side and Heaslip finished off the scoring in injury-time after being released by replacement scrum-half Frank Murphy.
Ireland will now travel to New Zealand and Australia for their summer tour but are likely to face much stiffer competition in those two Test matches.