Andy Farrell pleased with Ireland's ruthless nature

When the clock is in the red and it's 35C and there's a 67 point lead, you could forgive any team for tapping the ball out of play and calling it a day.

Ireland scored 12 tries in their 82-8 win against Romania to get their Rugby World Cup campaign up and running, but it was their final score, three minutes after the clock ran dead, that will be most pleasing for Andy Farrell.

When Ireland beat Fiji last November, the Irish coach voiced his displeasure at how his players seemed content to run out the clock in a facile win. Ten months on from that, Farrell was prowling the touchline waiting for the final whistle, as his side recovered possession deep in their own 22, and watched as his side ran it out from deep to allow Tadhg Beirne finish out his second try, and his team's 12 of the day.

"I was down on the sideline and was begging them to keep the ball in play," the Ireland coach said of that final score.

"I thought at one stage Hugo [Keenan] was going to kick it off, and then Mack Hansen started playing like an U12-year-old which was great. There was a chip over the top, and I was thinking, 'why did we chip that?' and then Bundee [Aki] got it back, but it was an outstanding way to finish the game, for the crowd more than anything."

It was Barbarian-style rugby, and while the 75-8 lead at the time meant there was no real jeopardy for a mistake, the intent to keep the foot on the pedal is something Farrell (above) was most please with, particularly given how crucial points difference could be later in the pool.

"Points matter," he added.

"We don't know what different ramifications will happen in two, three or four weeks time. It's important that we got off to a good start and rack up a few points, and that was the aim. To do