Casey vows to drive on in pursuit of regular slot
IRELAND debutant Craig Casey was flattered to be compared to Jonny Wilkinson by his captain Johnny Sexton following his eyecatching cameo in yesterday’s win over Italy in Rome.
Casey was forced to wait for an opportunity at international level after being an unused replacement for the defeat by France in Dublin a fortnight ago.
With first-choice number nine Conor Murray still sidelined by a hamstring injury, he came on for Jamison Gibson-Park in the Italian capital and set up a try for James Lowe – only for his pass to be deemed forward.
Casey is now targeting regular Test action and was happy to hear about Sexton’s comments.
‘He said this to me a few weeks ago, I think it’s to do with obsessiveness with rugby,’ Casey said of Sexton’s comparison.
‘Being compared to Jonny Wilkinson – I will definitely take that.’
Asked about his ambitions, he added: ‘Of course I want to be playing games for Ireland, that’s definitely the goal.
‘I don’t want to sit back and be happy with being third choice, not at all. I want to push on now but when you’ve got players of Murray’s calibre and Jamison’s calibre, it’s awfully tough to break in but I am definitely not going to be sitting back.’
Italy have now shipped 139 points and 19 tries in three successive losses and their cause was not helped by quickfire second-half yellow cards for replacement Giosue Zilocchi and captain Luca Bigi.
This was the Azzurri’s 30th Six Nations loss on the bounce and their South African coach Franco Smith rued the indiscipline and admitted there was a gulf in class between the teams.
‘After such a defeat you have to understand what to improve, but you have to give credit to Ireland, who were under pressure after two defeats and came to Rome with great determination,’ said Smith.
‘In Italy, at this level, many boys have to learn to play and be physically ready. They are proud and work hard, they will recover.
‘They must have experience on the pitch, every week we try to improve. If all of Italy asks us to win a game, we always try, with heart and preparation.
‘But for now they are better than us, even if we are doing everything to become like Ireland.
‘These defeats burn. It is hard, but we need everyone’s support to take a further step. Unfortunately we made many mistakes and today the numerical inferiority has cost us dearly against a superior team.’