Ireland win sets up Super Saturday decider

DUBLIN: Ireland overwhelmed Italy 5017 in an empty Aviva Stadium yesterday to bring the longdelayed 2020 Six Nations championship back with a late rush of tries that set up a Super Saturday lastday shootout with title rivals France and England.

The originally scheduled clash in March was one of the first major Covid19 sporting casualties and, with the country under tough restrictions again, the home side secured the bonuspoint win needed to give its fans hope of a fourth title in seven years.

Ireland moved one point ahead of England and France and, while the big ask of a bonuspoint win in Paris will guarantee it the championship, a narrower victory may not cut it as England goes to Rome trailing by a points difference of 23.

‘‘Points difference might not be enough now,’’ captain Johnny Sexton, one of six different tryscorers who included new caps Hugo Keenan, who grabbed two, and Will Connors, said.

‘‘Now we might have to go over and score four [tries], you never know. We just have to try and win the game. How many wins have we had in Paris over the years, not too many. We’re going to have our work cut out.’’

Once man of the match Connors grabbed the bonuspoint try on 60 minutes, it was a question of how many more as Sexton, Dave Heffernan and Bundee Aki pushed Ireland past 50 points.

Former England coach Clive Woodward says the Barbarian players who breached Covid19 quarantine rules and forced yesterday’s match against England to be cancelled will be ashamed of their actions.

The Rugby Football Union said the game had been called off after several Barbarian players had left their hotel rooms this week without the permission of organisers.

The discovery of a further breach of Covid19 protocols a day earlier had given it no choice but to cancel the contest at Twickenham Stadium, the

RFU added.

‘‘It’s a difficult and strange rugby landscape at present but . . . I’m disappointed and gobsmacked by the mass Barbarians breakout on Wednesday when 12 of their squad descended on a restaurant,’’ Woodward wrote in a column l for the Daily Mail.

‘‘It now transpires there was another group dining out on Tuesday . . . health comes first at all times right now and sportsmen should be setting a better example. Those players involved must be feeling stupid and embarrassed.’’ — Reuters