Ireland cruise past hapless Italy

Ireland required just two minutes and tries to secure a comfortable 26-3 win over Italy, as they started the defence of their Six Nations crown in Rome on Saturday.

Scrumhalf Conor Murray (in the 65th minute) and flank Tommy O'Donnell (67th minute) - who was a late replacement after Sean O'Brien failed a fitness test during the pre-match warm-up - scored the game's only tries.

Apart from that brief flurry a combination of Italy's gritty defence and Ireland's high error rate kept the home team within touching distance.

That two-try blitzkrieg saw the score balloon from 12-3 to 26-3 and ended the game as contest.

Ireland suffered a late blow when flank Sean O'Brien was ruled out of the defending Six Nations champions' opening game shoulder injury suffered in the warm-up.

O'Brien, who was due to play his first Test in over a year, was replaced in the starting line-up by Tommy O'Donnell - with Ulster's South Africa-born Robbie Diack taking the vacancy on the replacements bench.

Italy started strongly and held firm throughout the first half.

However, a yellow card to hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini  in the 64th minute - for repeatedly collapsing mauls illegally - broke the proverbial damn wall and two minutes late the score gad ballooned from 12-3 to 26-3.

Game, set and match - as those second-half tries from Conor Murray and Tommy O'Donnell helped reigning champions Ireland to cruise for the final 10 minutes.

Ireland led 9-3 at the break courtesy of three Ian Keatley penalties.

The Italian resistance finally crumbled 15 minutes from time when Murray burrowed over shortly after Leonardo Ghiraldini had been sent to the sin bin.

O'Donnell, who only played after Sean O'Brien pulled up in the warm-up with an injury, broke through the Italian defence two minutes later to put the match firmly beyond the Italians.

Italy went on the attack from the kickoff and looked to have unlocked the Irish defence inside the first minute. However, the final pass was deemed forward and Ireland took possession.

Ireland were awarded a penalty on five minutes when Ghiraldini crept offside at the ruck, handing Keatley an easy penalty to open the scores - 3-0.

In the opening 15 minutes Ireland were struggling to find their form. Uncharacteristic errors were creeping into the Irish game, all the while Italy were curtailing Irish attacks with a very structured and alert defence. If anything Ireland were guilty of over-enthusiasm, slightly over-running the ball and having to check their run, which eliminated any momentum they had managed to build.

A further Keatley penalty on 21 minutes extended Ireland's lead to 6-0, but Italy had enjoyed the majority possession thus far.

Around 25 minutes, Italy had enjoyed a good spell of possession. However, when perhaps keeping ball in hand would have been the better option, flyhalf Kelly Haimona elected to kick the ball which Ireland were only too happy to return with interest, keeping the home side pinned in their own half of the field.

On 29 minutes Ireland attacked from the line-out, working the ball right before coming back inside and left again but making little ground. The Italian defence was up quickly and when veteran prop Martin Castrogiovanni raced up to envelop Simon Zebo, he earned a turnover for his mighty defensive effort.

A Sergio Parisse error - when Italy were looking to attack - provided the springboard for Ireland's next score. A long kick to touch and a rolling maul from the line-out saw Ireland attack, Italy could do nothing but infringe by pulling down the maul and that handed Keatley another penalty - which he used to extend Ireland's lead to 9-0-with 35 minutes played.

Italy opened their score as the clock hit 40, Haimona slotting over a penalty - when Jack McGrath was judged to have taken out the supporting lifter in the line-out. Haimona kicked what proved to be Italy's only points of the match - 9-3 at the break.

Ireland launched a two-minute attack right from the restart. However, they were met by an aggressive Italian defence, the boys in blue were certainly winning the contact area and breakdown.

Ireland's response to the swift Italian defence was to keep the ball moving.

Ireland's patience looked like being rewarded but twice, when they needed precision, their handling let them down with two try scoring opportunities wasted.

Italy attempted to wheel the scrum on 56 minutes and Ireland took the opportunity to extend their lead with a Keatley penalty -0 12-3.

With 64 minutes gone Ireland went on the attack from a line-out and driving maul, working to within five metres of the line. Ghiraldini was sin-binned for entering the maul from an offside position and illegally collapsing it. It was perhaps not a sin-binning offence in isolation. However, it was repeated infringements by the Italians and a card was always coming.

Ireland now went on the attack from the maul and then around the side of the ruck, before Connor Murray spotted a gap, picked the ball and darted over the line for his first ever Six Nations try. Keatley added the conversion and Ireland extended their lead 19-3.

Tommy O'Donnell got over for Ireland's second try two minutes later. The massive Munster flank showed excellent vision, Ian Madigan who had replaced Keatley at No.10 spotted that O'Donnell had space in front of him. Madigan threw a beautiful pass into space, encouraging O'Donnell to come onto it at pace. The flank showed superb pace to sprint through the gap and power his way over the line. Madigan added the conversion and Ireland now led 26-3 with 13 minutes left on the clock.

With 73 minutes gone, Luke McClean made a superb break down the flank, but a scrambled Irish defence managed to snag him into touch.

A late Italian surge saw them attack the Irish five-one with five  minutes left to play, but even at this late stage of the game, the Irish defence held its structure, keeping pressure on Italy and eventually forcing the error to turn over possession.

Man of the match: You never have to look much further than Italian captain Sergio Parisse, but he spoilt his day a bit with the constant whinging about refereeing decisions. Italian scrumhalf Edoardo Gori also did a stirling job on defence. Ireland forwards like Jordi Murphy, Peter O'Mahony and Paul O'Connell were also very productive. However, our award goes to rookie flyhalf Ian Keatley, who showed just how much dept the Irish have in the No.10 channel.

Moment of the match: There is no doubt, the floodgates opened after Italian hooker Leonardi Ghiraldini was sent to the sin bin in the 64th minute for repeated infringements. The Azzurri heads dropped and the floodgates opened for the Irish. Within two minutes the score had gone from just 12-3 to 26-3 ad the game was well and truly over as a contest.

Villain of the match: Hooker Leonardo Geraldine gets our vote for his brain-explosion - collapsing yet another maul illegally while his team was on a general warning. Any semblance of a contest disappeared along with him as he sat one the sidelines.

 

The scorers:

For Italy:

Pen: Haimona

For Ireland:

Tries: Murray, O'Donnell

Cons: Keatley 2

Pens: Keatley 4

Yellow card: Leonardo Ghiraldini (Italy, 64 - repeated infringements, dropping the maul)

Teams:

Italy: 15 Andrea Masi, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Luke McLean, 10 Kelly Haimona, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (captain), 7 Francesco Minto, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 George Biagi, 4 Joshua Furno, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Matias Aguero.

Replacements: 16 Andrea Manici, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Marco Barbini, 21 Gulgielmo Palazzani, 22 Tommaso Allan, 23 Giovanbattista Venditti.

Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Jared Payne, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jordi Murphy, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Paul O'Connell (captain), 4 Devin Toner, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Jack McGrath.

Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 James Cronin, 18 Martin Moore, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Sean O'Brien, 21 Isaac Boss, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Felix Jones.

Referee: Pascal Gauzere (France)

Assistant referees: Wayne Barnes (England), Stuart Berry (SA)

TMO: Graham Hughes (England)

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