Sorin Socol drives forward. (Getty Images)

By Simon Stone, PA Sport, Gosford

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Denis Hickie scored a brace of tries as Ireland beat Romania 45-17 in their World Cup opener.

But captain Keith Wood limped off after helping his team secure the start they craved Down Under.

The inspirational Lions hooker scored one of the five Irish tries which took them top of Pool A courtesy of the valuable bonus point secured when flanker Victor Costello touched down just past the hour mark.

Fortunately for Ireland Wood claimed afterwards it was just a minor knock - which will be good news as he is so important to Eddie O'Sullivan's side.

Though they were never at their best, Ireland always had the edge over a stout Romanian team whose enthusiasm remained undimmed throughout the contest.

Fly-half David Humphreys justified O'Sullivan's decision to name him at stand-off in preference to crowd favourite Ronan O'Gara, whose late appearance was greeted with ecstatic cheers from the Irish fans in a capacity crowd at the scenic, if blustery Central Coast Stadium in Gosford.

Humphreys failed just once and finished with 18 points, edging Ireland into a 9-0 lead before injury-plagued winger Shane Horgan, making only his fifth appearance in the last 20 internationals charged over after taking Kevin Maggs' final pass.

Wood raced through a huge hole to grab try number two four minutes before half-time. Then Hickie, making a record 41st appearance for an Irish winger, capped the occasion with a brace. Costello's effort split those two scores, the flanker almost splitting Romanian fly-half Ionut Tofan as he powered over straight from a scrum.

Ireland went into the game with O'Sullivan believing his third-ranked team have not been given the respect they deserve by the major southern hemisphere nations.

After watching the disappointing opening night tussle at Telstra Stadium, the coach would no doubt have implored his team to make the kind of statement which would force Pool A rivals Australia and Argentina to sit up and take notice.

Eventually it came, although not without a struggle. Having opted to try and blunt Romania's enthusiasm by making them play into the teeth of a gale blowing off nearby Brisbane Water, Ireland still found themselves in difficulty at times.

Flanker Ovidiu Tonita was a constant menace in defence and attack, and the plucky eastern Europeans were unfortunate not to have a first-half try to show for their efforts when a succession of forward drives were repelled by the Irish pack.

The period around the interval marked Romania's most productive spell and when Brezoianu profited from a kind bounce and hacked forward, only Humphreys' blatant shove prevented him from scoring a try, the penalty version of which was eventually awarded by match official Jonathan Kaplan following consultation with the video referee.

If Cristian Sauan had set the speedy Brezoianu away when he had the line at his mercy, Ireland might have been worried. As it was, another mighty charge on their opponents' line only brought Romania a Ionut Tofan penalty.

By the time Valentin Maftei sprinted clear to dive on Brezoianu's kick ahead, their chance of causing a shock had long since disappeared.

Teams

Ireland: Dempsey, S. Horgan, O'Driscoll, Maggs, Hickie, Humphreys, Stringer, Foley, Gleeson, Costello, O'Connell, O'Kelly, Corrigan, Wood, Horan.

Replacements: Kelly for O'Driscoll (79), O'Gara for Humphreys (68), G. Easterby for Stringer (71), Hayes for Foley (55), O'Callaghan for Gleeson (78), Byrne for Wood (62).

Not Used: Quinlan.

Tries: S. Horgan, Wood, Hickie 2, Costello.

Cons: Humphreys 3, O'Gara.

Pens: Humphreys 4.

Romania: Dumbrava, Sauan, Maftei, Gontineac, Brezoianu, Tofan, Sirbu, Petre, Tonita, Chiriac, Petrichei, Socol, Socaciu, Mavrodin, Balan.

Replacements: Andrei for Dumbrava (62), Vioreanu for Sauan (55), Toderasc for Sirbu (62), Tudori for Tonita (67), Nicolai for Socaciu (55), Popescu for Balan (55).

Not Used: Teodorescu.

Tries: Penalty, Maftei.

Cons: Tofan, Andrei.

Pens: Tofan.

Att: 20,000

Ref: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa).