Ireland vs Fiji LIVE, Latest Score, Tries and Nations Championship Updates

Experienced Australian referee Angus Gardner controls tonight's Round 5 Test on Lansdowne Road. Gardner is assisted on the touchlines by Wales's Luke Pearce (AR1) and Damon Murphy (AR2).

Scotland's Mike Adamson serves as Television Match Official (TMO), joined by Eric Gauzins as Foul Play Review Officer (FPRO) monitoring bunker referrals.

Supporter interest across Dublin has surged all week around the rare 20:10 GMT Saturday night kick-off slot at the 51,711-capacity Aviva Stadium, with fans keen to see young backs Sam Prendergast, Jamie Osborne and Tommy O'Brien start alongside seasoned Lions forwards.

Bench rotations promise brisk tempo after half-time.

Ireland hold 31-cap scrum-half Craig Casey, 16-cap utility back Ciaran Frawley and 32-cap centre Stuart McCloskey in reserve alongside uncapped flanker James McNabney, whereas Fiji can introduce 25-cap fly-half Caleb Muntz, 24-cap loose forward Elia Canakaivata and 18-cap openside Kitione Salawa.

No single collision inside the Aviva Stadium carries more raw power than the inside-centre duel between 76-cap Bundee Aki and 33-cap Josua Tuisova. Aki's direct gain-line carries off Jamison Gibson-Park and Sam Prendergast routinely tie in two tacklers, creating second-phase width for Mack Hansen, Tommy O'Brien and Robert Baloucoune.

Up front, Ireland's 401 tight-five caps target scrum and maul dominance.

Porter, Kelleher, Furlong, Ryan and Beirne have played dozens of Champions Cup and Six Nations nights together, testing Peni Ravai, Tevita Ikanivere and Luke Tagi at every scrum reset. If Fiji win parity at the lineout through Isoa Nasilasila and Peceli Yato, Volavola and Lomani gain the platform to unleash Ravutaumada and Wainiqolo in broken play.

No nation in the 2026 Nations Championship has logged heavier travel miles than the Flying Fijians, who played all three July fixtures in Britain before returning north in November. Fiji opened with a 39-24 defeat to Wales in Cardiff on 4 July, suffered a 73-8 loss against England in Liverpool on 11 July and fell 33-17 to Scotland at Murrayfield on 18 July.

Round 4 in Lyon proved equally punishing against Six Nations pace-setters France.

France ran out 54-17 winners at Groupama Stadium on 7 November, though Fiji crossed for 17 points and generated clean line-breaks whenever Tuisova and Wainiqolo isolated defenders one-on-one. Cutting down the penalty count inside their own 22 is priority number one in Dublin tonight.

Three of Ireland's four Nations Championship outings took place down south in July, yielding two road wins before running into the All Blacks. On 4 July in Sydney, Ireland edged Australia 33-31 at Sydney Football Stadium, then defeated Japan 36-20 in Newcastle on 11 July before losing 40-21 to New Zealand at Eden Park on 18 July.

Returning to Dublin last Friday night produced an emphatic statement.

Playing under the Aviva Stadium lights on 6 November, Ireland dismantled Argentina 42-12 to collect a 30-point winning margin and a try-scoring bonus point. Conceding just 12 points to Los Pumas lowered Ireland's tournament defensive mark to 25.8 points per game ahead of Fiji's visit.

Fiji counter with 380 Test caps in their starting fifteen and unmistakable offloading threat across the backline. Experienced half-backs Frank Lomani (47 caps) and Ben Volavola (47 caps) steer the attack inside 33-cap wrecking ball Josua Tuisova at 12 and Test debutant Setareki Bituniyata (0 caps) at outside centre.

Wings Jiuta Wainiqolo (22 caps) and Selesitino Ravutaumada (13 caps) flank 8-cap full-back Ponipate Loganimasi.

In the pack, 58-cap loosehead Peni Ravai, dynamic hooker Tevita Ikanivere (38 caps) and tighthead Luke Tagi (17 caps) anchor the scrum ahead of locks Joseva Tamani (3 caps) and Isoa Nasilasila (34 caps). Number eight Peceli Yato (25 caps) packs down with blindside Mesake Vocevoce (22 caps) and openside Lekima Tagitagivalu (13 caps).

Playmaker Caleb Muntz (25 caps) headlines the Fijian bench in shirt 22 alongside Zuriel Togiatama (13 caps), Vilikesa Nairau (1 cap), Inoke Ravuiwasa (3 caps), Kitione Salawa (18 caps), Elia Canakaivata (24 caps), Terio Tamani Veilawa (2 caps) and Iosefo Masikau Baleiwairiki (10 caps).

Ireland field a heavyweight starting XV packed with 749 Test caps, led up front by loosehead Andrew Porter (82 caps), hooker Ronan Kelleher (54 caps) and tighthead Tadhg Furlong, who enters the night on 99 Ireland caps ahead of his landmark 100th Ireland appearance. Second-row veterans James Ryan (86 caps) and Tadhg Beirne (80 caps) complete an all-British & Irish Lions tight five.

Nick Timoney (14 caps) starts at number eight between blindside Ryan Baird (33 caps) and 82-cap openside Josh van der Flier.

Scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park (57 caps) partners 18-cap fly-half Sam Prendergast, feeding 76-cap powerhouse Bundee Aki at inside centre and Jamie Osborne (18 caps) at 13. Full-back Mack Hansen (31 caps) marshals wings Tommy O'Brien (9 caps) and Ulster flyer Robert Baloucoune (10 caps).

Uncapped Ulster back-rower James McNabney (0 caps) wears jersey 20 on a bench alongside Tom Stewart (6 caps), Tom O'Toole (25 caps), Sam Illo (2 caps), Darragh Murray (3 caps), Craig Casey (31 caps), Ciaran Frawley (16 caps) and Stuart McCloskey (32 caps).

With France beating South Africa 21-19 at the Stade de France on Friday night to reach 21 points from 5 matches, Ireland know there is zero margin for dropped bonus points in Dublin. Entering Saturday's action, Ireland sit joint-second alongside England on 15 points (3 wins, 1 defeat, 132 points scored, 103 conceded, 3 bonus points).

A five-point haul tonight moves Ireland to 20 points before Round 6.

That sets up next Saturday's blockbuster Round 6 clash against 21-point South Africa at the Aviva Stadium on 21 November, with Northern 1st facing Southern 1st during Finals Weekend on 29 November. Across the aisle, Fiji sit 6th in the Southern Hemisphere pool on 0 points (66 points scored, 199 conceded) behind 5th-placed Japan (5 points) and 4th-placed Argentina (7 points), before finishing pool play away to Italy in Udine next weekend.

Good evening and welcome to VAVEL's live coverage of Ireland vs Fiji from the Aviva Stadium on Lansdowne Road in Dublin. Kick-off in Round 5 of the 2026 Nations Championship is set for 20:10 GMT (21:10 CET, 3:10 p.m. ET and 8:10 a.m. Sunday in Suva).

Dublin closes out Saturday's Northern vs Southern Hemisphere slate under the floodlights.

Ireland step out at home eight days after dispatching Argentina 42-12 at this exact venue on Friday, 6 November, sitting on 15 points from 4 matches (3 wins, 1 defeat). Visiting Fiji hunt their opening points of the competition (0-4) following last weekend's 54-17 loss to France in Lyon.

Stay right here for full 23-man team sheets, milestone watch on Tadhg Furlong, and minute-by-minute updates of every try, conversion, scrum and lineout.