The game in Rome wasn’t a classic by any stretch of the imagination. Both sides looked rusty and there was very little running rugby on show. Here is a report by “Bardon”
Ireland 26 – Italy 3
By “Bardon”
The first 40 was a tale of contrasting performances of the two captains. O’Connell looked imperious in the lineout and lead from the front in the loose. Parisse found himself on the wrong side of referee Gauzere on a couple of occasions and looked a frustrated figure as he and his team found it difficult to impose themselves on the Irish.
One aspect of the first half that would please the Irish will be their scrum. They struggled there in November but the hard work they put in since then seems to be paying dividends. Italy would have expected to have the upper hand but it was Aguero who had his card marked by the referee.
Ireland’s maul provided them with good go forward. The Italian pack found it very hard to stop and had to resort to illegal tactics. This allowed Ireland to dominate possession and territory.
With the Irish struggling to make ground in the loose it was no surprise that O’Connell asked Keatley to kick for the posts when the Italians infringed in their own half. Keatley, making his Six Nations debut, duly obliged and was successful with all 3 of his kicks in the first half.
Haimona got Italy off the mark from the kicking tee as Ireland were pinged following a good charge from Furno. The kick from out wide was on the stroke of half time and made the score 9-3 at the break.
Ian Keatley – kicked five goals
In the second half Ireland continued to have the lion’s share of possession and territory but lacked penetration. They continued to try to truck it up the centre but with little variation the Italians just had to line up the ball carrier.
When Ireland went wide it was all very lateral and the Italians coped easily with their drift. The Irish had willing runners in Zebo and Kearney but the centre partnership of Henshaw and Payne failed to click and look like they need a lot more time together.
On the occasions when Italy did have the ball they looked more dangerous and found space out wide. Their old nemesis poor handling meant they couldn’t exploit their breaks.
Keatley added the extras with his last act of the game. Along with a penalty earlier in the half that made a personal tally of 14 points. It may not have been flashy but he did the job asked of him.
Ian Madigan’s introductions saw Ireland be a little more adventurous. Another substitute, Henderson, was involved in Ireland’s second try. He made a good bust on the right and Ireland then switched the ball back into the middle. O’Donnell then produced a run that Sean O’Brien, the man he replaced at short notice, would have been proud of. He showed good pace and an equally good fend before crossing beside the posts.
Conor Murray – Man of the Match
Ireland’s breakthrough came from a rather predictable route, their maul. First Ghiraldini was shown yellow for pulling down a driving maul five metres out. Then a minute later a break from the back of a maul ended with Connor Murray scoring his team’s first try.
Overall Schmidt will be pleased with the result if not the performance. Ireland are off the mark and they’ve negotiated the first tough assignment. The set piece went well even if it wasn’t as strong when the bench was emptied. His search for penetration in the loose continues however.
Italy will be disappointed that they never really challenged. They did look better when Allan came on and Haimona moved into the centres. However things don’t get any easier form them as they travel to Twickenham next.
Leonardo Ghiraldini (left) – his yellow card was a game chnager
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Game Changer
Ireland looked comfortable throughout but Ghiraldini’s yellow card allowed them to put clear daylight between the sides of the scoreboard.
From then on it was job done for Ireland and they were able to ring the changes and look ahead to next week and a tougher assignment against France.
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Man of the Match
O’Connell had a very good game and along with Toner ruled the lineout. Keatley was solid at 10 for Ireland. Italy had few standout performers with Furno busy in defence and making yards when he carried.
Conor Murray kept up the tempo and made life easier for Keatley. His try topped off his Man of the Match performance.[/one_half]
The Details
Score & Scorers
[one_half last=”no”]Italy 3
Penalty: K. Haimona
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[one_half last=”yes”]Ireland 26
Tries: C. Murray, T. O’Donnell
Conversions: I. Keatley, I.Madigan
Penalties: I. Keatley (4) [/one_half]
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Cards & citings
Ghiraldini (yellow)
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Crowd
57,700
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The teams
Italy
1. Matias Aguero, 2. Leonardo Ghiraldini, 3. Martin Castrogiovanni, 4. Josh Furno, 5. George Biagi, 6. Alessandro Zanni, 7. Francesco Minto, 8. Sergio Parisse (captain), 9. Edoardo Gori, 10. Kelly Haimona, 11. Luke McLean, 12. Luca Morisi, 13. Michele Campagnaro, 14. Leonardo Sarto, 15. Andrea Masi.
Reserves: 16. Andrea Manici, 17. #alberto De Marchi, 18. Dario Christolini, 19. Marco Fuser, 20. Marco Barbini, 21. Guglielmo Palazzani, 22. Tommaso Allan, 23. Giovanbattista Venditti.
Ireland
1. Jack McGrath, 2. Rory Best, 3. Mike Ross, 4. Devan Toner, 5. Paul O’Connell, 6. Peter O’Mahony, 7. Tommy O’Donnell, 8. Jordi Murphy, 9. Connor Murphy, 10. Ian Keatley, 11. Simon Zebo, 12. Robbie Henshaw, 13. Jarad Payne, 14. Tommy Bowe, 15. Rob Kearney.
Reserves: 16. Sean Cronin, 17. James Cronin, 18. Marty Moore, 19. Iain Henderson, 20. Robbie Diack, 21. Isaac Boss, 22. Ian Madigan, 23. Felix Jones.
See next page for a report on France v. Scotland
