Jake White says Fiji ‘did Ireland a favour’ after 43-15 defeat at Aviva Stadium

Fiji boss Jake White said his side "did Ireland a favour" after Fiji lost 43-15 to Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in Saturday's Nations Championship match, with Ireland due to play South Africa in Dublin next week. White made the remark while warning Andy Farrell's team they cannot afford similar lapses against the reigning world champions.

Ireland led 17-15 at half-time before pulling away with 26 unanswered points in the second half to record a 43-15 victory that included seven tries. White, who led South Africa to World Cup glory in 2007 and was appointed Fiji boss last month, criticised some of Fiji's decisions and suggested the Irish benefited from the opportunity to sharpen up ahead of a tougher assignment. He said the performance gave Ireland a reminder about the standards required against elite opposition.

White expressed frustration that Fiji opted for a tap penalty rather than a scrum when the game hung in the balance, arguing that South Africa would have taken a different approach. "I know how South Africa operate and they would've taken that scrum there, they would have backed the fact that they wanted to get [Ireland] a yellow card," he said. "They would have taken another scrum and another scrum and another scrum, and they wouldn't have worried about the ref making a call about collapsing or early engaging."

Using a specific example, White referred to Springbok captain Malcolm Marx as a player who would have pushed for a scrum rather than a tap. "If I'm coaching South Africa and Malcolm Marx is standing there [as captain], there's no way he is going to say, 'we'll take the tap'. There's no way that happens. "Marx will say, 'let's take the scrum,' or 'we'll kick it out into the corner and we'll take the line-out'. And that's because they back themselves in those situations," he added.

White also pointed to missed scoring opportunities from five-metre line-outs and set-piece situations, and questioned Ireland's preparedness for the South Africa game. "The five-metre line-outs that we didn't take opportunities in, and the five-metre scrum and tap penalties, South Africa will turn those into points and I'm sure that Andy [Farrell] and the players will be aware of that," he said. "They [Ireland] have been around a long time, and they know what's coming, and that's probably why he picked the team that he did because he wanted to make sure that they get a little bit more gun-ready for next weekend, because the easiest thing would have been to change the team and then they're probably one game shy of playing South Africa next week."

When White's comments were put to Ireland head coach Andy Farrell, Farrell said the team had learned from the match and intended to apply those lessons in preparation for the upcoming clash with South Africa. "We were just saying in the changing rooms that we learned some good lessons and use them in the right manner for next week," he said. Farrell conceded the scoreline flattered Ireland after a tight first half: "Pleased to get the win, especially the scoreline, it flattered us a little bit but having said that you've got to work for those points and after 25 minutes you're down by five points against a side that's playing pretty well."

Farrell assessed Fiji's physicality and breakdown work as causes for concern that required attention. "As far as the physical nature of the game, I thought they were winning collisions, they were good in the air and on the floor, running really physically through the line and the breakdown was pretty good," he said. "All in all, we need to understand that wins here when you're under a bit of pressure, they're all pretty precious."

Ulster back row James McNabney made a shorter-than-expected debut after coming off the bench, making two significant carries before being withdrawn with a head injury that rules the 23-year-old out of featuring against South Africa. Farrell joked about McNabney's brief introduction: "He's joking in the changing rooms - he's delighted with himself for the shortest cameo of a first cap," and added, "I reckon it's the best cameo of three-and-a-half minutes or whatever it was on a debut in Irish history really. He remembers the two breaks that he made, so he seems in good spirits."

Ireland now prepare to face South Africa in Dublin next week, with McNabney confirmed unavailable for that fixture because of the head injury sustained in the Aviva Stadium game.