key events
try! Ireland 24 – 0 Italy (Dan Sheehan)
50 minutes. Ireland caught and beat the Italian defense, allowing Sheehan to cross the goal line with ease.
Crawley’s conversion effort disappears to the right.
48 minutes Italy’s next possession saw them concede the ball again in the first period, this time Zuliani unable to pick up Blakes’ pass.Frustration turns to pain, new prop Zilocchi gets attention in scrum
45 minutes Italy completes the scramble! Then there was a penalty for Ryan Baird breaking Varney’s kick early!
However, that warm fuzzy feeling soon faded when they threw the ball into contact again after the lineout and Lowe kicked his long soul-crushing kick miles behind the winger, who had to turn again and withdrawn.
42 minutes James Lowe used his left-foot cannon to shoot the ball deep behind Garbisi, who recovered it and passed it.
Giosue Zilocchi replaces Pietro Ceccarelli in the front row as Italy try to change the scrum situation
Second half!
We’re back in the game.
Ireland’s performance against Italy so far has been nothing short of professional, with Italy unable to even come up with a set-piece worthy of the name. Club team-mates Casey and Crawley were managing the home side’s game with ease, not even out of second gear but dominating every area of the game.
Italy need a functioning scrum and a new scrum half to start rebuilding their performance for the next forty years.
Intermission!
40 minutes That’s what you get for this half.
try! Ireland 19 – 0 Italy (Jack Conan)
38 minutes A clean reception moved the ball towards the Italian defence, but the Azzurri defense repelled several attacks before Conan finally broke through from a few meters out.
Crowley added both.
It was heartbreaking for Italy when they slightly mishandled a brilliant counterattack, resulting in another seven points conceded in a matter of minutes.
35 minutes Ireland were busy in the first period but the Italian defense read it well and they fought back with some strength to win the ball, but Ramaro conceded the ball in the melee to the home side Which brings about another chaos.
Any confusion now results in an inevitable penalty for Ireland and this was proven again, allowing Crawley to put him in a corner.
30 minutes Capuozzo made a cameo appearance late in the half, accelerating into space and forcing Baird to catch him in the scramble. It looked like a good position for the Italian but when he tried to remove the ball from the floor it spilled over and Ireland won another penalty in the resulting fracas.
The Italian team’s chaos throughout the half was terrible.
27 minutes Another ominous-looking Irish attack began to gather momentum in the Italian half, with a few attacks standing out. But James Lowe’s run went a little too far, which isolated him and allowed Fischetti to chip the ball in by not releasing the penalty.
try! Ireland 12 – 0 Italy (Dan Sheehan)
23 minutes Italy takes a long time to complete a scrum until the ball reaches the backcourt. Crawley executed a beautiful no-look pass to Keenan to put his team behind, passing the ball to Sheehan lurking down the wing to score.
Crowley converted.
18 minutes. Italy’s first decent attacking platform took the line about 10 meters from the Irish line. The ball was won but the offense was in disarray and by the time they got the ball away the Irish defense had organized to frustrate the attack and Varney decided to cut the ball open.
It was a good call but Keenan belted it back into the Italian half near his own touchline before Capiozzo delivered a horrific cross-kick that would have been full-strength for Pani.
14 minutes Midfielder Crawley’s Ruthie Gusi passed the ball over midfield, prompting the Italian player to plunder the retreating Irish player and turn the ball over. The ball was passed to the left but the home side did well to seize their (slight) chance and shut it down.
11 minutes A powerful strike from McCarthy cost Italy possession of the ball, which once again allowed Ireland to race back into the opposition half. The ball came out of the back hammer, but that was because Zurani bumped it deliberately and the man in green returned to Italy’s penalty area, 5 meters away.
try! Ireland 5 – 0 Italy (Jack Crowley)
7 minutes. Hugo Keenan decided it was time for his team to take the initiative and his No. 22 set up Ireland’s attack in the Italian half. They used some strong and organized dribbling to quickly get the ball to Crowley to break into gaps and score.
Crowley pulls the conversion low and wide. Things are trickier than they seem for the kickers.
Missed the penalty! Ireland 0 – 0 Italy (Paolo Garbisi)
4 minutes. From the lineout, Italy had some walking phases and were easily contained by Ireland, but Henshaw was too keen on rushing the ball, lost his balance and was knocked down.
Garbisi drove the ball low into the strong wind but pulled it wide. However, Italy is off to a good start.
2 minutes. Doris claimed the kick-off, which Ireland recovered several times before Crawley cleared. The Italians took turns running through several phases before possession was denied.
The pattern repeated itself until Kesey fired the ball inside the Irish half.
kick off!
Paolo Garbisi leads us forward
The team filed out of the tunnel, past the Six Nations trophy, onto a sunny late winter day in Dublin. Its conditions are excellent.
Read the wider Six Nations Cinematic Universe before the game
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team
Despite talk that Italy is now a tougher challenge, that hasn’t stopped Andy Farrell from making six changes, most of them significant. Peter O’Mahony, Bundy Aki, Tags Beirne and Furlong, as well as Jamison Gibson-Parker, were not in the starting XI.
Italy welcome back slender wonderkid Ange Capuozzo, who replaces Tommy Allan at fullback, while Stephen Varney starts in half Fight for the field. Due to injuries to Sebastian Negri and Lorenzo Cannone, Alessandro Izekor and Manuel Zu There are few forced changes in the lineup as Manuel Zuliani comes to the back row and moves captain Michele Lamaro to number eight.
Ireland: Hugo Keenan; Calvin Nash, Robbie Henshaw, Stewart McCloskey, James Lowe; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey, Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Finlay Billam , Joe McCarthy, James Ryan, Ryan Baird, Keiran Doris (captain), Jack Conan.
alternatives: Ronan Kelleher/Jeremy Loughman/Tom O’Toole/Ian Henderson/Josh VanderFlier/Jamison Gibson-Parker/Harry Byrne/Jordan Lamo
Italy: Ange Capozzo; Lorenzo Pani, Juan Ignacio Brex, Tommaso Menoncello, Montana Ioane; Paolo Garbisi, Stefan Varney ; Danilo Fischetti, Gianmarco Lucchesi, Pietro Ceccarelli, Niccolò Cannone, Federico Ruza, Alessandro Izecol , Manuel Zulani, Michel Ramaro (captain).
alternatives: Giacomo Nicotra, Mirco Spagnolo, Gisue Chirocchi, Andrea Zambonin, Ross Vincent, Martin Page-Lello, Thomas Thor Allen, Federico Mori
Preface
Look, let’s be honest, on the surface, this is a tough game to get excited about. Firstly, the outcome was more certain than Bradley Walsh’s son getting the speaking job he didn’t deserve: Italy had not beaten Ireland in 14 previous attempts and had never triumphed in Dublin. That doesn’t happen today either.
So what should you focus on in the next few hours to stay interested? Well, Italy is a team that failed at the Rugby World Cup. As England’s game proved, their combination of energy and young forwards is always valuable.
Ireland fans will be looking to Jack Crawley to build on the international composure he displayed in the Marseille win, as well as Kealan Doris’ ever-evolving captaincy credentials.
It’s easy to judge a game as not worth your energy when the only factor up for debate is the margin of victory rather than the identity of the winner. But don’t be surprised if this ends up being an interesting battle – both teams have enough quality to make this a good contest.
