Ireland handily defeated Italy in the second leg of this year’s Six Nations at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on Sunday with a resounding 36-0, six-try victory.
After his impressive performance against France in Marseille last Friday, the Irishman is aiming for two wins from two games and another record high.
Tries from Jack Crowley, Dan Sheehan (2), Jack Conan, James Rowe and Calvin Nash meant Andy Farrell’s side went into the Six Nations off-week with 10 points.
It was a very disappointing day at the office for Italy as they were unable to deal a blow to the current champions Ireland, resulting in their second consecutive loss in the tournament.
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Ireland’s play certainly could have been more ruthless, but it was more than enough to defeat the regular winners with a wooden spoon and secure a 17th straight home win.
Farrell’s side are on track to become the first team to win back-to-back Six Nations Grand Slams, with Wales on February 24 and England and Scotland in March.
Italy arrived at a packed Aviva Stadium as overwhelming underdogs, aiming for their first victory on Irish soil, backed by a strong performance that saw them lose to England by three points.
Paolo Garbisi converted an early penalty to give the Azzurri the lead before Irish scrum-half Craig Casey happily released his provincial team-mate Crowley to seal the breakthrough five points.
In the subdued atmosphere of a Sunday afternoon, the seven-minute score initially did little to calm the hosts, who soon found themselves on the wrong side after eight-year-old Stevie Mulroney enthusiastically played the Irish call. The atmosphere disappeared.
Farrell’s starting 15, which saw six personnel changes from Marseille, initially looked disjointed as contention descended into chaos.
Hugo Keenan’s energetic strike briefly lifted the crowd and led to a second goal in the 24th minute, with Crowley, Stuart McCloskey and Robbie Henshaw eventually combining to score for Sheehan.
The Cranberries’ zombie explosion, the anthem of the World Cup squad, rang out every time Ireland tried, and when Conan bulldozed over the line after Joe McCarthy was stranded three minutes before half-time. It rang again.
Ireland secured the bonus point within five minutes of the restart as hooker Sheehan, who also crossed for Les Bleus, scored his second try of the afternoon.
Henshaw, the center fielder, would likely have been judged to have double action before grounding out and would have been severely denied a point.
But Ireland won’t be ruled out for long after full-back Keenan limped off with an apparent leg problem.
Shortly after Italian center Tommaso Menoncello was sent to the sin box for illegally sticking his foot out to stop the game, impressive Leinster winger Rowe added more sparkle to the scoreboard with a powerful finish.
After Garbisi’s wayward penalty, an underdog Italy offered little attacking threat and barely made it into the hosts’ 22nd place.
Another futile trip to the Irish capital took a turn for the worse two minutes into the game. Munster winger Nash collected Jamison Gibson-Park’s pass to score for the second week in a row, while substitute No. 10 Harry Byrne added another point, adding to Crawley’s two conversions.
team
Ireland: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Sheeran Doris (c), 6 Ryan Baird, 5 James Ryan, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacement: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Jeremy Rahman, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Ian Henderson, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Harry Byrne, 23 Jordan Larmour.
Italy: 15 Ange Capozzo, 14 Lorenzo Pani, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monti Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Michele Ramaro (c), 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Alessandro Isécole, 5 Federico Luzza, 4 Niccolo Canone, 3 Pietro Ceccarelli, 2 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacement: 16 Giacomo Nicotera, 17 Mirco Spagnuolo, 18 Giosue Girocchi, Andrea Zambonin, 20 Ross Vincent, 21 Martin Page-Lillo, 22 Tommaso Allan, 23 Federico Mori
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant referee: Mathieu Reynal (France), Luc Ramos (France)
TMO: Eric Gauzan (France)
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