Ireland snatched an undeserved 23-20 victory over a courageous Italian side at Ravenhill on Friday, thanks mainly to a last-minute blunder from television match official Derek Bevan.
So much was expected from Ireland, and yet so little was forthcoming in a game they had no right to win. That it took a very dubious television match official decision to win them the game was symptomatic of the way they played for the greater part of a strangely intriguing encounter.
The early signs were full of promise for Ireland, and yet the performance that was expected from them never materialised. Where Eddie O'Sullivan goes from here is a question few will have the answer to.
It is too late to make sweeping changes, too late to change tactics and too early to bring back Brian O'Driscoll. Thankful then will Ireland be that they open their campaign without him against Namibia, a game that given their lofty IRB ranking, they will expect to cruise.
The same can not be said of this encounter. But for a fifth-minute Ronan O'Gara penalty, Ireland seemed positively lost for direction and structure in the opening quarter. Opting to run the ball from anywhere and everywhere gave the feeling they thought this was Namibia already. Not so, this was an Italian side full of endeavour and passion, an Italian side who exposed Ireland's soft underbelly.
Italy approached the game as Ireland knew they would, with a strong emphasis on their forward play and not too much creativity behind. Despite this, Ireland still decided to go toe-to-toe with the Azzurri and came off a poor second best.
If there was disappointment with the Irish forwards in Scotland there will be a sense of disbelief after the opening half in Belfast. The regularity with which Ireland lost the ball in contact, were too slow in support, or generally coughed up possession when under relatively light pressure will cause O'Sullivan to sound the alarm bells.
The opening Italian score came from an O'Gara mistake, the following two from their own indiscipline. O'Gara went for distance with his clearance kick and only achieved in finding the impressive full back David Bortolussi. The nonchalance with which he stroked over a 45m drop goal defied his relative inexperience at international level.
With the game seemingly drifting, Sergio Parisse gave it the spark it so desperately required, albeit in a less than orthodox manner. A rabbit punch to Peter Stringer when the whistle had gone was uncalled for and sparked a scuffle in which Parisse continued his brutish behaviour with a flurry of poorly aimed punches.
The upshot to it all was an Irish penalty, a dressing down for several players and the introduction of an added edge to the game. Ireland did their best to quell the Italian uprising and for a period it looked as if they had when Andrew Trimble crossed for a try on his home ground, which O'Gara created and converted.
It was his towering garryowen into the dying Belfast sun that caused Bortolussi all kinds of trouble and allowed Trimble time enough to pounce on the loose ball for only his seventh Test try. It was also O'Gara's failure to roll away at the breakdown two minutes later that allowed Bortolussi the chance to close the gap, which he duly did.
Italy came again with time in the first half rapidly expiring and how they were rewarded for their adventure. It was Alessandro Troncon who took the spoils as he wriggled his way over, yet the score was born from Italy's first meaningful back line attack. It was Troncon's vision and guile that caught Ireland napping as he wriggled his way over for a crucial score.
Half-time and Italy were ahead by three, not as the Irish scripts would have had it, but Italy were playing to their own lines, which on the basis of the opening salvo were pretty accurate. The same could not be said for Ireland who were confused as to which half of the pitch to kick the ball in and which half to keep it in hand.
The Ravenhill faithful could wile away the break safe in the knowledge that Ireland could only get better, and the subsequent extent of their improvement was hardly meteoric but it did cause Italy a few problems.
The kicking game became prominent as O'Gara and co. looked to establish field position from which to attack. Attack they did and defend did the Italians, and with some ferocity to boot. All Ireland had to show from a slightly improved twenty minute spell was a second O'Gara penalty. Italy had bags of confidence from their resolute defence and it was poised for a dramatic finish.
Drama indeed in the dying stages. At first Italy seemed to have won it, against all the odds, when Matteo Pratichetti scored a breakaway try. The score was a result of the latest Irish error, a knock-on by Trimble when Ireland were flooding forward. Two hacks of the ball later, and a suspect shoulder charge on Geordan Murphy, saw Pratichetti crossing for a converted try.
As if that was not enough, the best, if you are Irish that is, was yet to come. How television match official Derek Bevan could award a try on the evidence presented to him will remain a mystery. A ball that is dropped before the try line but lands over the try line has gone forward: fact. The fact O'Gara then grounded it is irrelevant.
As it was Bevan adjudged O'Gara scored and as the Irish fly-half calmly slotted the extras Nigel Owens put the salt in Italy's wounds by calling a close to proceedings rather earlier than he had done the first half, much to the relief of Irish fans the world over.
The records will show an Irish victory but the facts will show it to be hollow in every aspect. Again they were out-muscled at the breakdown and lacked the ability to create clear cut scoring chances. On the one occasion they did in the first half Denis Hickie not so much butchered as obliterated a scoring chance with one defender between himself, Geordan Murphy and the try line.
Despite being on the wrong end of the score this result will give Italy the confidence, if they were ever lacking it, that they have the ability to make the quarter finals of the World Cup for the first time in their history.
Dependant on the results in France there is the chance these two sides could meet in the quarter finals. You would not bet against Italy being there, but there are serious doubts now over Ireland's ability to join them.
Man of the Match: Few Irishmen held up their hands here. Donncha O'Callaghan was impressive in short stints, as too was Simon Easterby. However it was the Italians who stood taller on the night and this award justifiable goes to the hard working Robert Barbieri. Accompanied by his back row colleagues Barbieri turned in a huge defensive effort, never tiring in his tasks. On top of that he was prominent in attack and followed the ball with an undying hunger.
Moment of the Match: No doubt about it, this award goes to the TMO decision that won Irealnd the game. They were beaten in every aspect of the game, yet they were saved the ignominy of defeat by Derek Bevan's generous ruling.
Villain of the Match: This has to go to Sergio Parisse for his needless rabbit punch on the unsuspecting Peter Stringer. He is a better player than this act suggests and will do well to learn from this incident.
The Scorers:
For Ireland:
Tries: Trimble, O'Gara
Cons: O'Gara 2
Pens: O'Gara 2
Drop Goal: O'Gara
For Italy:
Tries: Troncon, Pratichetti
Cons: Bortolussi, De Marigny
Pen: Bortolussi
Drop Goal: Bortolussi
The teams:
Ireland: 15 Girvan Dempsey, 14 Geordan Murphy, 13 Andrew Trimble, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Denis Hickie, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 Neil Best, 6 Simon Easterby, 5 Paul O'Connell (c), 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Rory Best, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements: 16 Jerry Flannery, 17 Simon Best, 18 Malcolm O'Kelly, 19 Alan Quinlan, 20 Isaac Boss, 21 Paddy Wallace, 22 Brian Carney.
Italy: 15 David Bortolussi, 14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Matteo Pratichetti, 10 Roland De Marigny, 9 Alessandro Troncon, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Robert Barbieri, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Marco Bortolami (c), 4 Valerio Bernabo, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements: 16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Josh Sole, 19 Manoa Vosawai, 20 Paul Griffen, 21 Pablo Canavosio, 22 Ezio Galon.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Touch judges: Dave Pearson (England), Tim Hayes (Wales)
Television match official: Derek Bevan (Wales)
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