Five points in Paris and Irish are champs
IRELAND comfortably picked up the bonuspoint win they needed to keep their dreams of a second Six Nations title in three years alive, with Hugo Keenan’s double on debut key to their Aviva Stadium triumph against Italy.
Another five-point haul in Paris next weekend will see Andy Farrell’s side crowned champions no matter what happens in Rome or Llanelli, but with England facing the Italians every point will be crucial.
CJ Stander and Keenan’s brace put Ireland 24-3 clear at half time against this very inexperienced Italian squad, and although Edoardo Padovani hit back, another debutant Will Connors wrapped up the bonus point just after the hour mark.
Dave Heffernan crossed for Ireland’s seventh try a minute from time, but as they went in search of an eighth, Paolo Garbisi struck for Italy, seven points that could yet be crucial next week if scoring difference is the deciding factor.
“We got out of it what we wanted, a bonus-point win takes us into the final week,” said Farrell. “It’s a tall order to go to Paris and win over there but with a bonus point we could win the trophy.
“The late try was frustrating because I thought we defended so well. We created our own energy and our own atmosphere
because of the ferocity we showed in defence.”
While Ireland were very impressive at times, they got off to a sloppy start when Conor Murray was sin-binned for failing to release after the tackle following a lovely linebreak on halfway from Jake Polledri. Garbisi kicked the penalty for a 3-0 lead.
Garry Ringrose filled in at scrum-half and was in the thick of the action as Stander crashed over for his 11th international try after five minutes. Sexton made no mistake with the easy conversion for a 7-3 lead, and he added a penalty three minutes later as Ireland’s scrum showed their strength.
Ireland continued to dominate, thanks to their breakdown superiority, where Connors, Stander and Caelan Doris thrived. The loss of Ringrose to a factured jaw when he tried to block a Jayden Hayward kick was a blow for Ireland – but the arrival of Robbie Henshaw saw Ireland up their intensity.
The second Ireland try arrived ten minutes from the break. A lineout and maul was stalled well by the Italians, but when the ball was swung wide, Henshaw sent Keenan in for his dream debut score.
Two minutes later the Leinster winger had his second try chalked out when the TMO spotted an
infringement by James Ryan, but he didn’t have long to wait for his next chance. It came off the back of Italy’s most focused period of possession in the Ireland 22, but after 15 phases Doris stole the ball, which allowed Bundee Aki and Murray to break away. Running out of space, Murray slipped through and Keenan raced clear for his second score.
Italy started the second half brightly and got their reward when Padovani intercepted a weak Sexton pass on halfway and galloped clear.
The quest for the bonus point ended for Ireland when Connors mauled over his first international try after 61 minutes. Sexton converted again and then scored his own try four minutes later.
A sublime offload from flanker Peter O’Mahony sent Aki over for Ireland’s sixth try in the 69th minute and Heffernan bagged Ireland’s seventh in the last minute, before Garbisi’s late retort.