Ireland did well to silence their critics with an impressive nine-try victory over Italy at the Aviva Stadium for their first win in this year’s Six Nations.
Italy looked to start strong, almost scoring in the first three minutes but a crucial tackle by Conor Murray knocked an unfortunate Gonzalo Garcia’s foot into touch.
Ireland took their first try on the turnaround. A moment of madness caused Leonardo Sarto to slap a high ball into the hands of Jared Payne, who went to ground 10 metres out. A quick recycle by Murray and quick hands by Jonathan Sexton put Andrew Trimble over the line.
Ireland went over again in the 15th minute. A quick break from the ruck by Murray brought Ireland to 5 metres out. A short range pick-and-go from Jack McGrath, with a helpful shove from Devin Toner, allowed the referee to award the Ireland’s second.
Italy found their way on to the scoreboard in the 24th minute. A penalty against Ireland allowed Edoardo Padovani to kick his first international points for Italy.
Sexton kicked a penalty in return three minutes later, returning Ireland’s 12 point lead.
A blistering break from Earls in the 30th minute set up Ireland’s third try. Earls decimated the Italian defence with his run then threw a long pass out to Trimble, who couldn’t make much ground and gave an offload back to Earls. Earls brought the ball to ground and another quick recycle by Murray let CJ Stander barge his way over the line for his first international try.
Keeping their momentum going, Ireland finished the half off with one final score, in what could be the try of the tournament. A great team effort which started with a line break from Simon Zebo. Zebo gave a beautiful under-arm offload to Jared Payne. Payne gave a sly pass back inside to Sexton, who put it through the hands of Trimble, Fergus McFadden and finally to Jamie Healslip, who crashed over the line with two Italians hanging on.
Ireland returned to the second half with enthusiasm, scoring just three minutes in. Jared Payne intercepted an incredibly telegraphed pass from Padovani just outside the Italian 22′ and ran the ball in under the posts.
With only 49 minutes played, Healslip scored his second try of the game. Josh van der Flier brought the play right up to outside the Italian try-line after a 10 metre lineout. After several phases, Healslip crashed over the line in a powerful pick-and-go with the help of van der Flier and Mike Ross.
Another five minutes passed and another Irish try came. A quick penalty from Keith Earls caught the Italian defence off guard, bringing play to 10 metres from the Italian try-line. Another quick recycle gave the ball to replacement hooker Sean Cronin, who used great speed to pass through a gap in the Italian defence.
Italy finally scored a try nearing the final quarter of the game. A brilliant pass wide from Guglielmo Palazzani exploited an Italian overlap for David Odiete to beat the Irish defence and score in the corner.
Ian Madigan was the scorer of Ireland’s eighth try. After seven phases in the Italian 22′, Kieran Marmion gave a quick pass to Madigan, who danced between Sarto and Odiete to break the 50 point mark.
With five minutes remaining Italy managed to get a second try in, Leonardo Sarto making up for his previous mistake. A long pass out from Odiete found Sarto on the wing, who darted towards the corner to touch down. After some deliberation with the TMO over the legitimacy of the pass the try was awarded.
Ireland were unable to finish the game off without one final try. After entering the game for a third time, after two previous blood substitutions, McFadden spotted a hole in the Italian defence, which he burst through at speed to wrap up the game.
