Ireland 19 Italy 3

Ireland did just enough to beat Italy 19-3 in horrendous conditions in the RBS Six Nations match at Lansdowne Road in Dublin.  A brace of tries by Ireland late in the first half proved to be the difference as the Azzurri failed to break the Irish defence.

The weather proved to be the biggest factor at Lansdowne Road as neither side truly came to grips with swirling winds and scattered rains in a grey and dreary Dublin.

Ireland fly-half Ronan O'Gara did well to control his kicks in the latter half of the game, but his Italian counterpart, Roland De Marigny, looked out of sorts with a number of his clearance kicks failing to find touch.

De Marigny, in fact, got the game off to a strange start as he chose to relinquish possession at the kick-off by gifting the Irish with a scrum on the half-way line thanks to a half-hearted grubbered kick-off.  What his reasons for doing so remain to be seen, but the resultant penalty awarded to Ireland was surely not one of them.

Ireland fly-half Ronan O'Gara failed with the conversion of the kick, however, with the wind interfering and sending his long-range effort well wide of the mark.

The wind stamped its mark on the game immediately as both teams really battled in the horrendous condition early on, with Ireland, in particular, looking to swing the ball wide despite the strong, swirling wind hampering their efforts.

The home side looked far more controlled when keeping the ball in-hand and in the forwards -- driving their way up towards the line as they took advantage of their dominance up front.

Italy's cause was not helped when hooker Fabio Ongaro was issued a yellow card for collapsing an Ireland maul close to the line after the Irish had threatened to smash through the Azzurri defence from 15 meters out.

Despite their obvious dominance in the forwards Ireland persisted in sending out long passes down the backline and they wasted a number of opportunities early on before veteran lock Malcolm O'Kelly, playing in his 63rd Test to equal the record set by Ireland legend Willie John McBride, made the breakthrough in the 24th minute.

The big second rower took advantage of a short Italian line-out throw when he snaffled the ball in mid-air and went crashing over the line for the try.  O'Gara over compensated for the wind, however, and failed to stretch his side's lead.

Ireland began to take control of proceedings for the remainder of the half as the Azzurri began to buckle under the pressure laid down by the relentless Irish attack.

Captain Brian O'Driscoll put together a moment of brilliance seven minutes from the break when he darted across the Italian defence and the bewildered Azzurri could look on only as the star midfielder created a gap and darted through it for the try.  O'Gara read the conditions perfectly to stretch the lead to 12 as the rain began to fall.

Italy began the second half with the wind behind them and, in truth, the Azzurri read the conditions far better than their favoured Irish counterparts had done in the first half as they pushed the Ireland forwards backwards with some well-weighted and aimed kicks.

The Azzurri spent the first 10 minutes camped in the Irish half, but they could not find any way through the seemingly impenetrable defence of the Ireland team.

Ireland absorbed the pressure and soon hit back as they countered and surged back into the Italian 22.  The Irish again took advantage of their forward domination, sucking in the Italian defence close to the line and O'Gara sent Shane Horgan away underneath the posts for the try.  The Irish fly-half, however, slotted the conversion and ultimately sealed the win for the hosts.

Amazingly the Irish saw little of the ball for the remainder of the half, with the Azzurri enjoying the bulk of the possession and spending much of that time camped on the Ireland line.

The Azzurri came close to pulling the Ireland lead close after an exceptional build-up saw winger Denis Dallan put away with the tryline beckoning, only for the veteran Italy star to lose control of the ball.

O'Driscoll was issued a yellow card for a high tackle on Azzurri scrum-half Paul Griffen in the 63rd minute and emotions came close to boiling over as the Italians looked to exact some vengeance.

The loss of their captain did little to deter the Irish from the job at hand, however, and the brave Italians were made to make do with a penalty kick by De Marigny as they failed to breach the resolute Ireland defence.

The Azzurri continued to attack until the end, but it proved far too little as the Italians, who continue to show vast improvements each and every week, are still some way off the likes of Ireland, England and France.

Man of the match:  Centres Gordon D'Arcy and Brian O'Driscoll proved a handful and lock Malcolm O'Kelly was a rock in the forwards, but Italian scrum-half Paul Griffen stood tall for Italy with some darting breaks and put in a massive work-rate in defence.  The New Zealand-born halfback may be filling the boots of Alessandro Troncon, but the latter will have his work cut out for him when he returns if he hopes to crack the nod.

Moment of the match:  Not the best of matches with the weather playing a large part in dampening both teams attacks, but Brian O'Driscoll's solo effort proved to be the highlight of an otherwise drab afternoon.

Villain(s) of the match:  We were tempted to give this to Brian O'Driscoll for his tackle on Griffen, but in the end the weather was the true villain here as mother nature played a wicked hand in ruining what could have been a great game of rugby.

Yellow card(s):  Fabio Ongaro (Italy, 17), Brian O'Driscoll (Ireland, 63)

The Teams:

Ireland:  1 John Hayes, 2 Shane Byrne, 3 Reggie Corrigan, 4 Malcolm O'Kelly, 5 Donncha O'Callaghan, 6 Simon Easterby, 7 Keith Gleeson, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Peter Stringer, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 11 Shane Horgan, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 14 Geordan Murphy, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves:  Victor Costello, Guy Easterby, David Humphreys, Gary Longwell, Marcus Horan, Kevin Maggs, Frankie Sheahan

Italy:  1 Leandro Castrogiovanni, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 3 Andrea Lo Cicero, 4 Marco Bortolami, 5 Carlo Checchinato, 6 Andrea De Rossi (c), 7 Aaron Persico, 8 Scott Palmer, 9 Paul Griffen, 10 Roland De Marigny, 11 Denis Dallan, 12 Matteo Barbini, 13 Cristian Stoica, 14 Nicola Mazzucato, 15 Gonzalo Canale
Reserves:  Carlo Festuccia, Roberto Mandelli, Simon Picone, Mirco Bergamasco, Santiago Dellape, Andrea Masi, Salvatore Perugini

Attendance:  49250
Referee:  Deaker k.

Points Scorers

Ireland
Tries:  Horgan S.P. 1, O'Driscoll B.G. 1, O'Kelly M.E. 1
Conv:  O'Gara R.J.R. 2

Italy
Pen K.:  De Marigny R.J. 1