Hat-trick Keenan fires Ireland past Argentina but warns team still short of World Cup standard

Hugo Keenan scored a hat-trick as Ireland opened their autumn Nations Championship campaign with a 42-21 bonus-point victory over Argentina at the Aviva Stadium on Friday, yet the Leinster full-back was quick to temper expectations heading into a pivotal 12 months for Irish rugby.

Keenan’s treble came on his first international appearance on home soil in 20 months, a return shaped by injury that had kept him out of Ireland’s 2025 autumn fixtures and this year’s Six Nations. He had re-entered the Test picture during the summer Nations Championship, scoring in a 33-31 win over Australia in Sydney and again in the 40-21 defeat by New Zealand at Eden Park — a result that clearly still weighs on the squad.

“We knew that we didn’t really deliver when it mattered in Eden Park, only at times in that Australia game,” said the 30-year-old. “We had a good camp in August, reviewing that and looking at where we can get better. Coaches set the standard and the stall out as to what we need to improve on.”

Captain Dan Sheehan, fly-half Sam Prendergast and replacement hooker Ronan Kelleher also crossed for Ireland, who have now won three of their four Nations Championship fixtures. Head coach Andy Farrell, who praised Keenan’s “immense” display alongside wings Mack Hansen and Robert Baloucoune, acknowledged earlier in the week that the side must raise their level to be genuine Rugby World Cup contenders.

Keenan echoed that assessment without hesitation. “We’re not at the level where we want to be yet, and it’s going to take a big couple of weeks to prove to each other, and to our fans, as to where we can get to. It’s been a good start but there’s still a good bit of work to do.”

He also credited the coaching staff for maintaining pressure on players even during the provincial window between international camps. “They’ve sort of been on us a bit since then, even though we’ve been with our provinces, and that’s been good at driving us on so that we’re a small bit ahead of where we’d previously been going into a camp.”

Ireland face Fiji next Saturday before hosting world champions South Africa seven days later, with the Nations Championship finals weekend to follow at the end of the month — a sequence that will offer a far sterner test of how far this squad has genuinely progressed.