Italy arrived in Dublin in an optimistic mood after suffering a narrow loss to England in their opening game in Rome. They were crushed by Irish heavy equipment and left. Dan Sheehan scored two tries for the hosts, just as he did when Ireland achieved the Grand Slam last season, while their versatile backline was as precise and fluent as ever.
The reigning Six Nations champions sit top of the table on maximum points with two wins and two losses, and will next face a talented but rebuilding side of Wales at home. Supporters may be starting to dream of the strongest possible response to last year’s heartbreaking Rugby World Cup defeat, but no one in Ireland’s camp will be ahead of the curve.
Italy were inferior in every aspect, conceding a total of six tries and failing to pick up a point. They were given scrum penalty after scrum penalty, frequently giving up possession, territory and valuable momentum.
Gonzalo Quesada’s side also proved unable to defend against the frequent and relentless driving mauls of Andy Farrell’s power players. Ireland’s excellence probably should have been recognized in a game where Italy’s campaign was more winnable.
Farrell made six changes to his squad since the opening game win at Marseille, with back-rower Caelan Doris taking over as captain for the first time from openside flanker. Meanwhile, half-back pair Craig Casey and Jack Crowley showed the kind of understanding you would expect from Munster team-mates and roommates in international camp.
“In fairness, I think our scrum was man of the match. It was a great weapon,” Farrell told ITV. “I thought it confirmed last week’s lineout performance.” [in Marseille] In the same way. “
Italy started well and the visitors had a kickable shot towards goal after Robbie Henshaw was penalized at the ruck. But it was a nasty scrape off Paolo Garbisi’s tee shot, and Quesada may have immediately questioned his own decision not to start Tommaso Allan.
Ireland soon settled into a fine score from Crowley. It was not only his first try for his country, but also his first try as a senior. The fly-half showed impressive tenacity to respond to a simple offload from Casey six minutes later.
As if to underline Ireland’s physical superiority, Sheehan opted to run his second straight over the tryline of Italian full-back Ange Capozzo after 23 minutes. It was 12-0 as Crowley made the score with his own skill. A happy sympathetic offload found Hugo Keenan on the short side, who in turn fed Hooker.
Ireland’s next score concerned the slugger. Sheehan carried behind Maul and was a standout player on offense and defense, with the game’s Most Valuable Player James Lowe adding weight and Maul gaining momentum after a Jack Connan touchdown. Halftime was 19:00.
Italy’s scrum crumbled, both literally and figuratively, and the latest penalty against Italy, 10 minutes after the break, earned Ireland a bonus point. Sheehan won the ball again behind the maul and scored his second try with worrying ease from the Italian’s perspective.
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After Keenan rampaged through the middle, Sheehan narrowly missed out on a hat-trick in the corner thanks to a fine challenge from Stephen Varney. However, despite the warnings of Monty Ioane and several others, Lowe forced his way down the left side and it soon became 29-0. Azzurri teammate.
Quesada brought on Exeter’s Ross Vincent from the bench (his first international cap) with just over 10 minutes remaining, but by then the game was long over. Ireland welcome Wales to Dublin in two weeks, Scotland host England on the same day and Italy face France in Lille.
“Of course we knew we were playing against one of the best teams in the world, probably the best team, and they would put pressure on us,” Quesada briefly enumerated in the intray. said before.
“We need to improve, we need to keep the ball better, we need to improve our set-pieces, we need to improve our defending and of course we need to improve how we handle the ball afterwards. Without it, it would be a tough situation for us.”
Wales’ loss in a tense game to England on Saturday reversed the theme of recent Six Nations games, while Scotland’s heroic failure against France left manager Gregor Townsend It was a nagging feeling of nostalgia for the team. So will Ireland overwhelm Italy in Dublin? That was never in doubt.