Keith Earls tied Ireland’s World Cup try-scoring record, touching down twice in a 44-10 victory over Romania to take Joe Schmidt’s men top of Pool D before suffering a concussion scare.
Earls took his World Cup try tally to seven in Ireland’s six-try win, drawing level with Brian O’Driscoll to top Ireland’s tournament record.
Earls underwent a pitchside assessment during the second half. Although he returned to action, he was replaced permanently 10 minutes later.
Tommy Bowe claimed a pair of tries of his own in a strong showing, with Rob Kearney claiming a fifth but suffering what looked a minor hip injury in the process.
Chris Henry drove home the sixth score, cementing top spot in the pool with two wins from two matches.
Three months ago the injury-dogged Earls was a doubt even to make this World Cup, but he has since ended his 29-month Test absence and become an integral part of Ireland’s campaign.
Bowe shook off the memory of his nightmare showing in the final warm-up match against England at Twickenham on September 5.
The Ulster flyer was out to prove his World Cup point after being dropped for Ireland’s 50-7 opening victory over Canada.
Bowe, 31, was at fault for Jonny May’s try in Ireland’s 21-13 defeat to England at the start of the month, but he returned to form against Romania.
Bowe will now hope to challenge the newly established first-choice wings of Earls and Dave Kearney for the pivotal Italy and France clashes.
The process of forcing his way back into the starting XV is complicated by Earls’ strong form however, with Kearney also impressing across the warm-up matches and against Canada.
Ireland’s relentless fan support broke another World Cup record, with the 89,267 crowd an all-time high for competition attendance.
Following the bonus-point victory, Ireland’s Jamie Heaslip said: “Romania made us work for it, but we are happy with the win.
“The support here has been amazing. To have this stadium filled out with Irish people has been humbling.
“We are focused week by week on the games ahead. This is another week where we focused and tried to do the team proud. We can only prepare for what is ahead of us. We will regroup now, turn the page and focus on Italy.”
Ian Madigan and Valentin Calafeteanu traded penalties at the start of the match, before Simon Zebo thought he had sparked a rout.
After Madigan slotted his second penalty, Ireland broke the try deadlock thanks to Bowe’s inch-perfect finish.
Earls claimed Eoin Reddan’s box kick, Chris Henry and Jamie Heaslip raced on, and then quick hands down the line afforded Bowe just enough space to slide home.
Earls then raced into the left corner to double the try-count. He grabbed his second try after a driving lineout edged Ireland within spitting distance of Romania’s line.
Romania’s Csaba Gal was sin-binned for killing the ball on his own tryline and, from the scrum, Bowe slid home for the bonus-point score, Reddan’s runaround exploiting the man advantage.
Kearney claimed the fifth score straight from the restart, Zebo sending the replacement wing home.
The full-back, operating on the wing, picked up a knock in the process and was replaced shortly afterwards.
As the clock ran down, Ovidiu Tonita capped a driving maul for Romania’s only try, with Florin Vlaicu converting.
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