Ireland followed up last week's win over France with a 38-9 victory over Italy at the Stadio Flaminio to keep the pressure on Wales at the top of the Six Nations standings.
Put the result to one side and there will be major areas of concern for both coaches, in what was a tale of two halves. In the opening forty minutes it was Italy who controlled events whilst Ireland floundered, and then the roles were reversed after the break.
Declan Kidney will be the happier of the two coaches, after all his side came out of this brutal encounter with the win, but Nick Mallett will also draw from Italy's ability to take the game to Ireland, albeit only for forty minutes.
Paul Griffen, whilst not spectacular, showed the true worth of having a recognised half-back at this level, and Italy's game benefited for it. How Mallett must be wishing he had never even entertained the idea of playing a flanker at nine, let along actually going through with it.
There was a fluidity to their rugby that was missing at Twickenham last week, and that coupled with Ireland's ill discipline allowed them to settle early on -- even with 14 men. No sooner had the game started than Andrea Masi was in the sin-bin for a disgraceful swinging arm that caught Rob Kearney high.
Despite having Masi off the field Italy went about their task with plenty of vigour, perhaps a little too much at times as tempers came dangerously close to boiling over. Hell bent on rectifying last week's forgettable forty minutes, Mauro Bergamasco was a menace at the breakdown, often slowing Ireland's ball down enough for any promising attacks to fizzle out.
Kidney will be alarmed that his side coughed up more penalties in the opening fifteen minutes of this game than they did in eighty minutes against France. Italy had their own infringers, but Ireland were feeling the wrath of Chris White's whistle all too often. The end result was a six point margin courtesy of Luke Mclean's boot.
Their luck changed after eighteen minutes when Tommy Bowe snapped up a loose pass, before skipping out of two despairing tackles, and showing a clean set of heals to go in under the posts. O'Gara converted and suddenly Ireland were leading having spent the opening quarter on the back foot. The lead didn't last though as Mclean soon slotted his third straight penalty.
With the penalties continuing to flow it was always a matter of time before we saw another yellow card, and in fact two came in quick succession. First O'Gara went, albeit slightly harshly, for tackling a player without the ball, and then it was Salvatore Perugini's turn, his more deserved for taking Paul O'Connell out in mid-air.
Ireland continued to struggle, as they had for much of the half, until they finally turned some pressure into points. Italy were holding firm, with the half at an end, until Jamie Heaslip slipped a great pass to Luke Fitzgerald, and the wing did the rest. With O'Gara off Kearney slotted the extras and Ireland went into the break with an undeserved lead.
Kidney will have been livid at half-time, and Ireland's performance after the break suggested they had taken much of what was said on board, or at least Heaslip did. It was his surge down the middle of the pitch that lead to David Wallace scoring, although the laboured manner in which the try was eventually taken will not go unnoticed.
From there it seemed as if Italy lost their belief, at the same time Ireland began to find some success from playing to their game plan. The structure enabled them to go through the phases and put pressure on Italy's defence, and when O'Gara slotted a penalty on the fifty minute mark it was clear there would only be one winner.
Sadly the game began to fade, as errors became increasingly more common, effectively ending the game as a spectacle and contest. Both sides still went about their business in keeping with the physical nature of the game, just both had a sense that the game was up. Fitzgerald's second try, and O'Driscoll's first, the icing on the cake for Ireland and the final nails in Italy's coffin.
Italy's frustrating affair with the Six Nations continues, and one wanders if they will ever compete on a weekly basis. At present one senses they have the ability to win a one-off game, but there is little evidence to suggest they could sustain such form.
Despite claiming victory there will be cause for concern in the Ireland camp, as if they are to mount a serious challenge this season they can ill-afford to turn in such a sub-standard first-half again. On the flip side they did what they needed to win, and really that is what matters.
Man of the Match: Having had a stormer against France last week Jamie Heaslip backed it up with another all-action display here in Rome. Be it bursting through tackles, doing the hard work at the breakdown, or setting up tries, all that Heaslip did had a touch of class to it. A few more outings like this and there will be talk of a British and Irish Lions spot for him.
Moment of the Match: With Italy starting to believe they could cause an upset in the first half the telling blow was Luke Fitzgerald's try on the stroke of half-time. It gave Ireland the lead, despite having done little to deserve it, and left Italy trailing at the break -- a position from which they would never recover.
Villain of the Match: Tempers were simmering over throughout, but it took just 41 seconds to hand this gong out. Hang your head in shame Andrea Masi for a horrendous high swinging arm. Had it not been the first minute of a Test match it would have been red.
The Scorers:
For Italy:
Pens: Mclean 3
For Ireland:
Tries: Bowe, Fitzgerald 2, Wallace, O'Driscoll
Cons: O'Gara 4, Kearney
Pen: O'Gara
Yellow cards: Masi (1st minute -- dangerous tackle), O'Gara (32nd minute -- early tackle), Perugini (36th minute -- taking the man out in the air).
The Teams:
Italy: 15 Andrea Masi, 14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Matteo Pratichetti, 10 Luke Mclean, 9 Paul Griffen, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Tommaso Reato, 4 Santiago Dellape', 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements: 16 Carlo Festuccia, 17 Carlos Nieto, 18 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 19 Josh Sole, 20 Giulio Toniolatti, 21 Gonzalo Garcia, 22 Andrea Bacchetti.
Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 12 Paddy Wallace, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 David Wallace, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Marcus Horan.
Replacements: 16 Rory Best, 17 Tom Court, 18 Mal O'Kelly, 19 Denis Leamy, 20 Peter Stringer, 21 Gordon D'Arcy, 22 Geordan Murphy.
Referee: Chris White (England)
Touch judges: Nigel Owens (Wales), Romain Poite (France)
Television match official: Graham Hughes (England)
No comments:
Post a Comment