Ireland became one of the few sides to score against Fiji in the World Cup but still suffered a 41-5 hammering at the hands of the defending champions. Blackrock's David Quinlan got the try from a rare Fijian mistake late in their opening Group A clash. It was Ireland's first try against Fiji, who did not concede any points in their first five games at the last World Cup in Hong Kong four years ago.

The Irish team, shorn of several top players because of European Cup and Six Nations commitments, had almost scored moments earlier through Aidan McCullen. But the result had already been put beyond doubt with Fiji's superior pace and power seeing them rack up seven tries beforehand.

Fero Lasagavibau scored two of them in the first half which ended with Ireland trailing by 15 points. The Fijians, with sevens master Waisale Serevi again the orchestrator, added four more after the interval. Ireland captain James Topping said: "That's our first try against them which is good. We could have maybe scored before and perhaps should not have got the one we did. They have put 50 and 60 points on us in recent games so we're glad to get this one out of the way. Now we can concentrate on the rest of the tournament.

"They are a great sevens side and you can see why they are one of the favourites. I wish them all the best. I am sure a few of our players will wake-up feeling this game tomorrow morning."