Match Report - Error ridden Ireland struggle past Italy in Rome
Stuttering Ireland tiptoed out of Rome with an unconvincing 26-16 Guinness Six Nations victory, claiming the four-try bonus point but suffering a serious scare from Conor O’Shea’s men.
Quinn Roux, Jacob Stockdale, Keith Earls and Conor Murray crossed for an Ireland side again struggling for fluency and rhythm.
Edoardo Padovani and Luca Morisi bagged tries for Italy to lead 16-12 at half-time, but Ireland edged home to leave the Azzurri still without a Six Nations win under O’Shea’s stewardship.
Ireland’s niggles were underlined by Johnny Sexton muttering angrily to himself and kicking out in frustration when he was replaced late on for Jack Carty to make his Test debut.
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Bundee Aki suffered a head injury and Sexton played through a minor leg problem that led to Murray taking over goal-kicking duties.
Head coach Joe Schmidt wanted Ireland – and chiefly half-backs Murray and Sexton – to rediscover the rhythm which underscored their stellar 2018.
That fluency continues to elude Ireland and their British and Irish Lions playmakers, but Schmidt’s men must at least be credited for emerging unscathed from a tricky situation.
FULL-TIME: ITA 16-26 IRE
Four-try @IrishRugby see off proud @Federugby in Rome for their second successive away victory #ITAvIRE #GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/21BklWle07
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 24, 2019
Captain on the day Peter O’Mahony admitted beforehand that Ireland’s 22-15 defeat to Italy in Rome in 2013 still sends shivers down his spine.
The Munster flanker led his men to avoid any further such trauma at the Stadio Olimpico then, but this was another Ireland performance littered with indiscipline and inaccuracy.
Roux and Stockdale handed the visitors the perfect start with two tries in the first quarter, but Ireland had already wasted several scoring platforms by that point.
Connacht lock Roux capped a 19-phase move by ploughing in for Ireland’s first try, with Stockdale then exploiting a cheap Italy knock-on to canter home almost unimpeded.
Both Italy tries came from Ireland errors, first Ireland overthrew a line-out in their own 22 and Italy pounced, Tommaso Allan firing a ball over the top for Padovani to nip home.
Then Tito Tebaldi pinched the ball at the base of an Ireland ruck to spark a field-length counter-attack which ended in centre Morisi powering over the whitewash.
Ireland’s half-time problems could even have been worse, had full-back Rob Kearney been punished for what appeared a deliberate block on Tebaldi.
The marauding Italy scrum-half chased his chip deep in Ireland territory when Kearney stepped into his path and sent him tumbling.
Nice way to mark your 70th @irishrugby Test appearance Conor Murray ? ??#ITAvIRE #GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/QvJdVqM8Zm
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 24, 2019
Referee Glen Jackson ignored the incident entirely though, in a clear let-off for Schmidt’s men.
Ireland improved after the break, though in truth not nearly enough to touch anything like the heights of the 2018 that included the Grand Slam and the November win over New Zealand.
Earls stepped his way over the line to wrestle back Ireland’s lead, before Murray’s sniping finish secured the try bonus.
Munster flyer Earls so nearly claimed the score of the match, only to be dragged down mere metres short. Italy fell for the latest Schmidt special move, with this one seeing Sexton run a wraparound decoy line allowing Earls to blast through midfield.
Hauled down just shy of the line though, his pass fell astray and the move broke down.
Job done for Ireland in the end, but precious little else, leaving Schmidt’s men needing to step up several levels to face France and Grand Slam-chasing Wales.
Comments on RugbyPass
Havili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
7 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
7 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
61 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
7 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
61 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
61 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to comments