1
Furlong and Henshaw injured in comfortable Ireland win
Ireland dished out a 56-19 Six Nations thrashing to Italy in Dublin on Saturday, but Joe Schmidt’s side face an anxious wait after Tadhg Furlong and Robbie Henshaw were taken off injured.
ADVERTISEMENT
Furlong appeared in some discomfort when he limped off the field inside five minutes clutching at his leg, but the hosts quickly returned to the task at hand to inflict a tournament-record-equalling 14th consecutive loss on Italy.
Henshaw and Conor Murray both profited from excellent Jack McGrath passes to touch down, with Jonathan Sexton – the last-gasp drop-goal hero of the opening win over France – splitting the posts with each of the conversions.
A rout looked likely when Bundee Aki’s diagonal run took him over and Sexton stretched Ireland’s lead to 21 points with as many minutes gone.
Aki turned provider to set up Keith Earls for a bonus-point try in the closing stages of a one-sided first half, with Italy coach Conor Shea – who won 35 caps for Ireland – coming in for heavy punishment against his countrymen.
Another Henshaw try arrived soon after the restart when Sergio Parisse’s pass was cut out, but he hurt his arm in the process and had to go off as Ireland’s fitness worries mounted.
After captain Rory Best recorded his ninth international try, Italy finally got off the mark as Tommaso Allan went over despite suspicions of a forward pass, only for Jacob Stockdale to promptly restore order.
ADVERTISEMENT
Parisse atoned for his error by setting up Edoardo Gori, with questions again raised over the crucial pass, and there was still time for another Stockdale score before Matteo Minozzi had the final say.
Full Time score – IRELAND 56-19 Italy #ShoulderToShoulder #TeamOfUs #IREvITA pic.twitter.com/GCqknRCqZt
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) February 10, 2018
The hosts were dealt an early blow as the influential Furlong was forced off injured, with Leinster’s Andrew Porter taking his place.
Ireland underlined their intent when Sexton opted against going for the posts with a presentable kicking opportunity and they managed to build up a head of steam after the fly-half found touch.
Following concerted pressure, Henshaw burst through the line and Sexton added the extras, with Italy looking much poorer than in last weekend’s 46-15 reverse to reigning champions England.
A superb interchange of passes on the left flank saw Ireland slice through their opponents once again in the 13th minute, Murray the beneficiary after collecting a reverse pass from McGrath.
ADVERTISEMENT
The one-way traffic continued through Aki’s converted score and he laid on another try for Earls before the break.
It took just a few minutes of the second half for Ireland to increase their advantage, Henshaw intercepting Parisse’s pass before racing away to double his tally, falling heavily as he dotted down.
? @henshawrob sprints to score his second try of the match – but at a cost…
He's replaced by Jordan Larmour after sustaining injury.#IREvITA#NatWest6Nations pic.twitter.com/k73rdHT7B3
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 10, 2018
Henshaw’s withdrawal afforded Jordan Larmour a maiden international outing and Ireland’s dominance continued, with Best grabbing a rare five-pointer, although Allan quickly responded in a brief moment of Italian resistance.
Stockdale’s late double came either side of Gori’s try and, despite Minozzi’s late effort, Ireland will be buoyant ahead of Wales’ visit to the Aviva Stadium next time out.
Joe Schmidt reveals extent of Furlong and Henshaw injuries
Comments on RugbyPass
I don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
4 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
24 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
24 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
24 Go to comments