Fiji head coach Jake White believes his side did Ireland a favour in their 43-15 defeat at the Aviva Stadium, arguing that the performance should serve as a warning ahead of next weekend's showdown with world champions South Africa in Dublin. Ireland struggled for fluency and briefly trailed during an uncomfortable opening period, with Fiji's quick-fire tries from Josua Tuisova and Peceli Yato overturning Tommy O'Brien's early opener before Robert Baloucoune's double restored order.

White, South Africa's World Cup-winning coach in 2007, said Ireland would know that if they played similarly against the Springboks they would be up against it. He pointed to Fiji's missed chances, including five-metre lineouts and tap penalties, and said South Africa would convert such opportunities into points. He said he was frustrated by Fiji's decision to tap and go from Ireland's five-metre line, arguing South Africa would have taken the scrum instead, and insisted he was not predicting a Springboks rout.S1S2

Andy Farrell's side made seven personnel changes and two positional switches after last week's 42-12 win over Argentina, but Farrell insisted the selection was not experimental. He described the bonus-point victory as "pretty precious", acknowledging that Ireland had been down by five points after 25 minutes against a Fiji side winning collisions and running physically. Ben Volavola's penalty left Ireland with a 17-15 half-time lead before Ronan Kelleher, Andrew Porter, O'Brien and Nick Timoney went over after the break.S1S2

Ireland remain level on 20 points with second-placed England in the northern hemisphere standings, one point behind leaders France, and still have a chance to reach the Nations Championship final. White, hired in October, said he has spent only three weeks with his squad and is still learning their names.S1S2