IRELAND GET AN EASY RIDE
Champions put limited Italians to the sword as focus turns swiftly to crucial visit of France
FOLLOWING a week of smoke and mirrors, reality inevitable bit by the banks of the Tiber yesterday afternoon. An underwhelming Ireland won a desperate Test match against a desperate Italy with a bit to spare and now we can all get on with the serious business of hyping up the big game of Ireland’s opening two rounds, next Saturday’s visit of France to Dublin.
All through the build-up the official narrative from Camp Ireland had been ‘beware of Italy’ but, as
Sportsmail had steadfastly alluded to in its coverage, it would prove to be empty rhetoric.
Fact was, there was never a credible threat that this result was going to go the way of the 2013 fixture in Rome and wind up with the locals celebrating. Never a threat, either, that they would cause a scare similar to what materialised in 2011.
Champion teams don’t lose to limited opposition, even when they start out error prone and trundle down the ugly route, producing little by way of attacking rugby.
Minus some key players, the safe cross code – building a three, six, nine, 12 score with the reliable boot of Ian Keatley – was the modus operandi. The lack of quality put proceedings on a par with the 2008 Croke Park snooze-fests against Italy and Argentina and can be summarised by the three-minute second-half staccato featuring an Italian sin-binning and the defining pair of Ireland tries.
Outside of that, there was little to report as this was always going to be a result that would go the way of the formbook. The idea-less Italians succumbed to a 12th defeat in 13 outings and Ireland did enough to comfortably chalk up an eighth victory on the bounce, vitality not experienced since the heady Grand Slam days of Declan Kidney.
Other than the pre-match misfortune that was Sean O’Brien’s pulled hamstring, which prevented him from starting, and the bang suffered by Rory Best early in the second half, Ireland won’t quibble with the 23-point win that could have been even more had their handling down the left flank been slicker after the interval when enjoying complete territorial and possession domination.
Opportunities went abegging. Keatley’s aggressive line of running was ruined by Michele Campagnaro’s attempted interception and then there were try-ruining fumbles by Tommy O’Donnell and Robbie Henshaw.
Ireland, though, had the sense to keep the scoreboard honest, Keatley correctly making it a two-score game by landing the 58th minute penalty awarded for a wheeled scrum.
The pressure remained relentless, Andrea Masi having a clearance kick blocked by the stand-out Conor Murray. The turnover, which led to Tommy Bowe having a kick deflected into touch, was the prompt for Leonardo Ghiraldini’s sin-binning off the maul.
That allowed Ireland kick to the corner and that was that in terms of the single-digit margin existing between the sides. Paul O’Connell fetched the throw, Jordi Murphy and Sean Cronin carried to rucks and Murray squirmed over. Keatley converted for 19-3, his last act on a decent Six Nations debut. His replacement Ian Madigan sent Tommy O’Donnell, the late call-up for O’Brien, galloping clear and bursting Masi’s tackle en route to the line for the score Madigan converted.
Italy rallied amid an end-game downpour but the TMO wasn’t of a mind to disturb the 23-point cushion that could be important if the title is decided on points difference, as happened last year.
Sergio Parisse, a shadow of the influential force he once was, claimed he didn’t touch the ball when contesting with Isaac Boss and Bowe before Kelly Haimona dived on it, but a knock on was the decision and their grumbles were trivial compared to the problems they must deal with before facing England away next weekend.
A misfiring lineout pickpocketed by Ireland, half-backs who didn’t convince and slack discipline are all pressing concerns on their to-do list. In contrast, Ireland’s second-half energy was a good sign after overcoming the general rustiness of their 11-week break since rounding off their November sweep by beating Australia.
Jonathan Sexton wasn’t really missed, Keatley doing a passable impression as Ireland’s conductor despite a few teething issues with a blocked kick and lack of length on a few touchfinders. Five place kicks
from five for 14 points, coupled with greater confidence in attacking the gain in the second half, were pluses on his report card.
The reshuffled back row wasn’t as initially prominent as it became, Murphy leading the ball-carrying tally and O’Donnell winding up top tackle, but the scrum went well from the off. Any anxiety regarding the inactivity of Mike Ross was shrugged aside as he kep up his side of the scrum equation during a forgettable first-half that featured Keatley’s penalty hat-trick, followed by Haimona’s solitary reply with the first-half clock in the red.
Ireland’s title defence is up and running. Now for the French.