Ireland were given an almighty scare by Italy on Sunday, before registering a hard-earned 26-16 victory in their Six Nations Test in Rome.
Despite heading into this match on a 19-game losing streak in the tournament, Italy were competitive throughout and even held a 16-12 lead at half-time after a superb showing during the opening stanza.
In the end, Ireland fought back bravely in the second-half and eventually secured a crucial bonus point after outscoring their hosts by four tries to two.
That means the champions move into third place in the standings – one point behind England and three adrift of table-toppers Wales.
As expected, Ireland were fastest out of the blocks but despite having most of the possession in the game’s early stages, they committed several unforced errors during that period.
They eventually settled down and took the lead in the 11th minute when Quinn Roux barged over from close quarters for their opening try after Chris Farrell was stopped short of the try-line in the build-up.
Johnny Sexton slotted the conversion but five minutes later Tommaso Allan lined up a long-range kick at goal and although he had the distance, he pushed his shot wide of the posts.
Soon after, Sean O’Brien was blown up for illegal play on defence and Allan made up for his earlier miss by converting the resulting penalty, which meant the visitors were leading 7-3 midway through the half.
The Azzurri forwards failed to claim the ball from the restart and in attempt to regather, Michele Campagnaro knocked on. Jacob Stockdale pounced on the loose ball before racing away from the cover defence to score his side’s second try.
Despite that setback, Italy were soon on the attack inside Ireland’s half and the hosts reduced the deficit via another penalty from Allan in the 26th minute after Sean Cronin strayed offside on defence.
The game’s momentum swung in the 33rd minute when Ireland lost possession at a line-out inside their half and after a good run from Jayden Hayward, Italy were camped close to the visitors’ try-line. The ball was recycled quickly and Allan did well to deliver a superb long throw to Edoardo Padovani, who had an easy run-in for his side’s opening try.
Although Allan failed with the conversion attempt, Italy finished stronger and in the 39th minute they took the lead courtesy of an excellent try from Luca Morisi.
Tito Tebaldi deserves plenty of credit for his role in the score as he did brilliantly to win a turnover inside his half before setting off towards his opponents’ try-line. Tebaldi then booted the ball upfield and Italy did well to regather deep inside Ireland’s 22 where Padovani was stopped close to the right-hand corner. Italy then shifted the ball to the left where Luca Morisi powered his way over the whitewash despite the attentions of Farrell.
Allan was off target from the kicking tee again but the Azzurri were buzzing as the teams changed sides at half-time.
Ireland seemed shell-shocked and the interval came at just the right time for them. They regathered their composure and regained the lead in the 51st minute when Keith Earls stepped past a couple of defenders inside Italy’s 22 before diving over.
The next 15 minutes was a slugfest and although Ireland had most of the possession and territory, they could not breach their opponents’ defence. But, despite being frustrated during that period, Ireland remained patient and they were rewarded in the 67th minute when Conor Murray scored their bonus-point try, off the back of a line-out drive deep inside Italy’s territory.
Despite securing their bonus point, Ireland could not rest on their laurels as Italy continued to attack. The closing stages were frantic and Italy had a chance to gain a losing bonus point when Ian McKinley lined up a shot at goal. His effort was off target, however, and although Ireland tried to attack from behind their posts, they soon committed a handling error which brought proceedings to a close.
The scorers:
For Italy:
Tries: Padovani, Morisi
Pens: Allan 2
For Ireland:
Tries: Roux, Stockdale, Earls, Murray
Cons: Sexton, Murray 2
Italy: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Edoardo Padovani, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Angelo Esposito, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Braam Steyn, 7 Maxime Mbanda’, 6 Jimmy Tuivaiti, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Federico Ruzza, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (c), 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements: 16 Luca Bigi, 17 Cherif Traore’, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 David Sisi, 20 Alessandro Zanni, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Ian Mckinley, 23 Tommaso Castello
Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jordi Murphy, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Quinn Roux, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Dave Kilcoyne
Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 John Ryan, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 John Cooney, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Andrew Conway
Referee: Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Wayne Barnes (England), Karl Dickson (England)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)
In a tough and uncompromising duel, characterised by several huge collisions, England’s defence kept Wales at bay for long periods. Wales finished stronger, however, and eventually outscored their opponents by two tries to one with both the home side’s five-pointer scored in the game’s closing stages.
After suffering defeats to Wales and England in their two previous matches, Les Bleus came in for plenty of criticism, but they delivered a much-improved performance in this fixture and were full value for their win.
Eddie Jones’ men benefited from Jacques Brunel’s muddled selections as the back three were constantly exposed by the hosts’ kicking game.
After starting their campaign with a narrow come-from-behind win over France in Paris last week, Wales opted to rest most of their first-choice players for this encounter and it showed as they battled to build momentum on attack.
That score gave Wales more breathing space and they upped the ante on attack. In the 64th minute, Jonathan Davies crossed the whitewash but his effort was disallowed after television replays revealed a handling error before he dotted down.
In a fast-paced encounter, Ireland were deserved winners as they committed less unforced errors and eventually outscored their hosts by three tries to one.
Ireland were initially on the attack close to the halfway line but Finn Russell intercepted a pass from Joey Carbery, who had replaced the injured Sexton, and the home side’s fly-half did well to set off on a 45 metre run before his progress was halted by a fine tackle from Keith Earls. Russell managed to free his arms, however, and offloaded to the on-rushing Johnson, who crossed for his first Test try.
As expected, this was a spellbinding and uncompromising encounter characterised by great physicality from both sides.
Gregor Townsend’s men created a number of chances in the first-half but could only convert two of them as Kinghorn crossed the whitewash twice.
Les Bleus had deservedly gone into the interval comfortably ahead thanks to Louis Picamoles and Yoann Huget tries, while Camille Lopez also kicked a penalty and drop-goal, but they were awful after the break.
Mistakes were prevalent and France pounced, opening their buffer further through Lopez’s penalty and well-taken drop-goal.
Despite trailing 28-7 at one point in the first-half, the Baa-baas came out on top at Twickenham thanks to Jantjies' effort from 35 metres.
In a fast-paced and entertaining game, both sides scored two tries apiece but Fiji deserved their win as they delivered brilliant passages of play throughout and also had two tries disallowed.
Despite Ireland fielding a second-string side, the USA were impressive and showed improvement from last year's 55-19 defeat in Harrison.
In a tough and uncompromising clash, highlighted by numerous brutal collisions, Wales stood up well to the Springboks' physical onslaught and eventually outscored their opponents by two tries to one.
Tries from Jonny May, Elliot Daly, Joe Cokanasiga and Owen Farrell saw England to victory, with Farrell also adding 17 points off the tee.
In a tightly contested encounter, the home side had to dig deep to secure their win but they eventually took control of proceedings and outscored the Pumas by one try to none.
As expected, the Azzurri were on the receiving end of a backlash as the All Blacks bounced back from their defeat to Ireland with a clinical performance. It was a completely one-sided affair as the world champions ran in 10 tries while they prevented their hosts from dotting down. Italy's discipline let them down as they conceded too many penalties, which the visitors duly capitalised on.
In an entertaining encounter, in which momentum between the teams ebbed and flowed, the Springboks' superior physicality played a big part in this victory especially in the second-half when the match was on a knife edge for long periods.
Argentina, meanwhile, have suffered their fourth successive defeat and will be desperate to reverse their downward spiral, just as France did here.
In a match billed as being the game of the November series, it was a brutal encounter, but the scoring was left to the respective kickers in the first half – Johnny Sexton and Beauden Barrett – as they traded a brace of three-pointers in the opening half-an-hour.
The visitors were outstanding in the opening 40 minutes, deservedly going into the break ahead thanks to Ryoto Nakamura and Michael Leitch tries. In contrast, the Red Rose were slack and, despite Danny Care’s try and Elliot Daly’s penalty, the hosts struggled to control possession.