Ireland's players their win over Argentina with those closest to them at the Aviva Stadium on Friday night.

Andy Farrell's men began their four-game November window with a 42-12 bonus-point win in the Nations Championship.

Hugo Keenan scored a hat-trick as Ireland maintained their perfect home record against Argentina by easing to the success in Dublin.

The Pumas stunned Farrell's 2025 British and Irish Lions squad on their last visit to the Aviva Stadium, yet had fallen in all 11 previous encounters with Ireland on Dublin soil.

Mateo Carreras' try handed Felipe Contepomi's side an early foothold, before full-back Keenan crossed twice either side of a score from captain Dan Sheehan to put the hosts firmly in control at 21-5 heading into the break.

Sam Prendergast marked a landmark moment with his first international try, adding to five successful conversions, while Keenan's hat-trick and a barnstorming finish from Ronan Kelleher rounded off a commanding victory.

The win was Ireland's third from four Nations Championship outings, following summer victories over Australia and Japan, with only a defeat to New Zealand blotting their copybook.

Argentina grabbed a consolation through Carreras' second of the night, though their hopes of causing an upset were severely dented by yellow cards for Justo Piccardo and Efrain Elias, compounded by an early head injury to skipper Julian Montoya.

Ireland head coach Farrell has openly conceded his side must raise their game if they harbour genuine ambitions at next year's World Cup, using the autumn opener to cast an eye over a number of fringe options.

Diminutive scrum-half Craig Casey — one of those afforded a chance to impress — could do little to stop Carreras latching onto Tomas Albornoz's cross-field kick to touch down in the left corner.

Argentina's 10th-minute score did little to lift a subdued crowd that was noticeably short of a full house. Ireland responded rapidly, though.

Casey first secured a turnover penalty before initiating a sweeping move from right to left that saw Mack Hansen feeding Keenan, who charged over the try line.

Captain Dan Sheehan – leading the side in place of the sidelined Caelan Doris – powered over 10 minutes afterwards, following Nick Timoney being held up from a lineout maul.

Argentina's difficulties mounted when they lost hooker Montoya, before Keenan gathered another Hansen pass to weave past three defenders and spin powerfully across the whitewash.

While the Pumas possess a dismal away record against Ireland, they've claimed victory in three of their four World Cup encounters.

Their prospects of achieving a historic triumph on Irish territory diminished when centre Piccardo received a yellow card in the 35th minute for failing to retreat after a penalty.

Sheehan was then prevented from claiming his second try when he was bundled into touch moments before grounding, an incident that resulted in both him and Montoya's replacement Leonel Oviedo undergoing head injury assessments.

Out-half Prendergast clinched Ireland's bonus point within two minutes of the restart, identifying space between Marcos Kremer and Juan Martin Gonzalez to brilliantly break through and touch down.

Keenan couldn't stop Pumas winger Carreras bagging his second before sealing his hat-trick after slick handling from forwards Tadhg Furlong, Joe McCarthy and Ryan Baird. Replacement hooker Kelleher powered over following Elias's sin-binning for a high tackle on Keenan, with Ciaran Frawley adding the conversion.

Ireland prop Sam Illo – on for his home debut – became the third player to receive a yellow card before Farrell's side comfortably saw out the remaining minutes ahead of forthcoming fixtures against Fiji and world champions South Africa.

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