Ireland finally on right road.. but there’s a long way to go
Head coach Andy Farrell shouldn’t get carried away with win over a woeful Italy but this was still a much-needed boost
THE sense of relief from Andy Farrell was palpable in the postmatch aftermath.
This victory – his first on the road in the Six Nations – was palpable. It wasn’t perfect, but it was badly needed for the head coach, his backroom team and his players.
Context is always needed of course. Farrell and his players won’t be getting carried away after this. Nor should they. For all of Italy’s recent improvements, they remain limited and very naive.
It didn’t help that their discipline completely deserted them in the second half.
The hosts found themselves down to 13 men at one stage when replacement tighthead Giosue Zilocchi and their captain Luca Bigi were both sent to the sin bin for persistent infringements.
This was their 30th consecutive defeat in the Six Nations stretching all the way back to the 2015 edition of the tournament. Franco Smith’s side conceded 19 penalties and fell off 26 tackles. Those are shambolic stats at any level of the game.
Italy are in a rebuilding process at the moment. You only have to look at the age profile of their key players such as Paolo Garbisi (20), Jacopo Trulla (20) and Michele Lamaro (22).
Losing their talented scrum-half Stephen Varney in the warm-up didn’t help their cause either.
Varney is only 19 but is already a key player in their squad.
So Italy are a young and inexperienced outfit and they played like one yesterday. All this pain may be worth it down the line but they will have plenty more days like this.
Basic errors are killing them at the moment. Twice, they were penalised for players staying in front of the kicker. Basic stuff. Better teams won’t gift Ireland such opportunities. Taking all of that into account, Farrell’s side have not suddenly morphed into world beaters. Certainly, they appeared to lose their way a bit after the break. Italy were there for the taking in the second half, but Ireland made heavy work of it. Two of their final three tries came from close-range drives after some sparkling attacking play in the first half.
Some of the attacking sequences before the break were excellent, particularly the stuff which laid the platforms for the Hugo Keenan and Will Connors tries.
There were sharp running angles, deft passing, strong breakdown work and even some offloads. It’s a
simple game when you’re on the front foot and quick ball is plentiful.
When Farrell and his team sit down to analyse this, they will wonder what stopped them from blowing an Italian team – who were lost at sea in the final 40 minutes – off the park after they had established a healthy 27-10 half-time lead.
In fairness, they did have three tries chalked off by the officials. Romain Poite – in the TMO booth – was the only person who didn’t see Iain Henderson touching down in the opening minutes while Mathieu Raynal would deny CJ Stander and James Lowe after both had crossed for tries.
There were some silly errors as well. The sight of Ronan Kelleher getting bundled into touch while an Ireland maul was clearly getting precariously close to the touchline will annoy Paul O’Connell, the forwards coach who has clearly made a huge impact. Apart from that, it was a tidy showing from Kelleher at hooker. His frontrow partnership with Tadhg Furlong and Dave Kilcoyne is set to become Ireland’s starting unit in the coming years.
There was also the heartening sight of Craig Casey and Ryan Baird arriving onto the scene to make their Test debuts with 17 minutes of the contest remaining.
The Munster scrum-half and
Leinster lock have been earmarked for big futures from a long way back and their cameos hinted at two players who could play a major part in this squad’s journey towards the 2023 World Cup and beyond.
Slowly, but surely this team is beginning to settle. The likes of Bundee Aki and Chris Farrell will do well to break up this midfield axis. Robbie Henshaw marked his 50th Test with another imperious display. Likewise, Garry Ringrose.
Farrell can bank that centre combination away now.
He will be thinking the same about Hugo Keenan, who looks so assured for an international full-back with fewer than 10 caps.
Tadhg Beirne is consolidating his status as a nailed-on starter with every passing week.
Perhaps blindside is his long-term home, especially when you see the havoc which Baird caused during his final-quarter cameo. There was also the welcome sight of Jack Conan back in action.
There is evolution and depth building across this squad now. Out-half remains the outlier in this process, however. Johnny Sexton enjoyed his outing at the Stadio Olimpico, playing the full 80 minutes for good measure.
He was in flying form in front of the press afterwards. He remains a valued part of this squad.
That can’t and won’t go on forever and the sight of Joey Carbery making his belated comeback for Munster in Cardiff on Friday night will change that narrative.
For now, Ireland can enjoy a solid days’s work in Rome.
But they know that the real tests are coming down the line in the shape of Scotland and England next month.
Putting away a poor Italy team is nothing new. It’s how they build on this for the rest of the Six Nations that matters.