THE ENDING WAS somewhat fitting because this one was a chaotic encounter.
Ireland had held Italy out with a huge final defensive grandstand in their 22, James Lowe intercepting Monty Ioane’s pass and setting off upfield, cleverly buying time when he recognised he didn’t have the speed to get clear and score.
Lowe’s power helped him to surge right up to the Italian 22, the final act of an excellent performance from the recalled left wing, before Ireland won a penalty out on the left.
With the clock three minutes into the red and a try-scoring bonus-point beckoning, Jack Crowley had a linekick five metres in from the left touchline and 10 metres out from Italy’s tryline.
When a simple nudge into touch would have sufficed, he mishit his kick, and the ball flew dead over the touch-in-goal line.
It was all the more jarring because Crowley had brought such a positive impact off the bench for Ireland, immediately putting control into their attack for Robert Baloucoune’s classy try. He had some slick touches in that passage and looked very confident.
But this seems to be how Ireland roll at the moment. They do some good things, even some great things, but then suddenly seem to come up with errors that kill their momentum.
This is an Ireland team who are struggling to control periods of games, never mind full games. Last week in Paris, they only got a grip on things when the game was already over.
Yesterday, they put together a lovely nine-phase passage of attack for Jamie Osborne’s first-half try when Louis Lynagh was in the sin bin. It was great stuff. A flowing, snappy, cohesive team try.
Right, you thought. Ireland must be feeling good about themselves after that. They’ll kick on now and make Italy start chasing.
But then Sam Prendergast missed a conversion you’d expect him to slot with his eyes closed. Then Prendergast had a poor exit kick off the restart. Then they conceded a penalty, albeit one that looked a little tough on Cormac Izuchukwu. And Italy kicked three points before Lynagh returned.
There were plenty of other examples in this game of Ireland swinging rather wildly from positive actions to making mistakes that helped give this impressive Italy side relief and a way to get a foothold. And we should underline here that the visitors were good. In fact, Gonzalo Quesada’s side were excellent in patches.
But the struggle to stack up good moments seems to be the way with this Ireland team in recent times.
Yet, there were reasons for optimism in Ireland’s showing and Stuart McCloskey’s latest excellent display was among them. The 33-year-old is probably their best player at present.
His pirouette and offload for Osborne’s try was excellent, while the NFL pass for Robert Baloucoune’s score was even more glamorous. There was a crucial strip on opposite number Leonardo Marin just before half time near Ireland’s tryline. McCloskey’s work rate was huge too, with 16 tackles, nine carries, and 16 passes.
The back three of Osborne, Lowe and Baloucoune impressed, while skipper Caelan Doris was a workhorse up front and had some nice touches on the ball. Cormac Izuchukwu would have loved to get more carries, but he had some strong moments, including an important lineout steal in the second half.
Jack Conan and James Ryan were physical, and the Irish bench had an important impact.
Replacement halfbacks Jamison Gibson-Park and Crowley did a fine job together for the closing 25 minutes and it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see them pair up in the starting XV next weekend.
Farrell’s glowing words about Crowley post-match seemed like a big hint at that. The Ireland boss has been sparing in this regard over the last couple of seasons when it comes to the Munster out-half. But it was a tough afternoon for Prendergast and Farrell could pivot back to Crowley as the starter at number 10.
Italy showed they are a serious team once again. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
It was also notable that Farrell said that “one of the best parts of our game today was when Tom O’Toole came on” at loosehead for the second time at Test level and delivered a solid scrum under the Irish posts. He may be preparing to back the Ulster tighthead to start at loosehead against England.
Edwin Edogbo got one of the biggest roars of the afternoon when he came on for his 10-minute cameo and though he gave up what could have been a costly penalty, the Munster lock made his presence felt in his nine tackles.
So there were good things that Ireland can build on, with Farrell once again praising their resilience as his men pulled through on the right side of an intense battle, but they’re aware that they need to keep getting better.
The scrum simply cannot give up momentum and penalties in the way it did yesterday. That’s two of their last three games in which Ireland have been taken to the cleaners at scrum time. John Fogarty, who coaches that area, has another busy week ahead.
Farrell knows that there were a fair few let-offs and that Italy can rightly feel a little sickened to have missed out on their shot at history in Dublin. This is a fine Italian side and they deserve respect for the increasing consistency of their performances.
But Ireland insist that things are moving in the right direction as they aim to cause an upset against England in Twickenham next weekend. They’re hoping it’s the next big step.
“We haven’t been playing our best rugby,” said the ever-succinct McCloskey yesterday.
“Our confidence probably isn’t what it was two or three years ago if you’re being completely honest about it.
“But I think we’re building something pretty special.”
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McCloskey the main man as Ireland mix the good and the bad
THE ENDING WAS somewhat fitting because this one was a chaotic encounter.
Ireland had held Italy out with a huge final defensive grandstand in their 22, James Lowe intercepting Monty Ioane’s pass and setting off upfield, cleverly buying time when he recognised he didn’t have the speed to get clear and score.
Lowe’s power helped him to surge right up to the Italian 22, the final act of an excellent performance from the recalled left wing, before Ireland won a penalty out on the left.
With the clock three minutes into the red and a try-scoring bonus-point beckoning, Jack Crowley had a linekick five metres in from the left touchline and 10 metres out from Italy’s tryline.
When a simple nudge into touch would have sufficed, he mishit his kick, and the ball flew dead over the touch-in-goal line.
It was all the more jarring because Crowley had brought such a positive impact off the bench for Ireland, immediately putting control into their attack for Robert Baloucoune’s classy try. He had some slick touches in that passage and looked very confident.
But this seems to be how Ireland roll at the moment. They do some good things, even some great things, but then suddenly seem to come up with errors that kill their momentum.
This is an Ireland team who are struggling to control periods of games, never mind full games. Last week in Paris, they only got a grip on things when the game was already over.
Yesterday, they put together a lovely nine-phase passage of attack for Jamie Osborne’s first-half try when Louis Lynagh was in the sin bin. It was great stuff. A flowing, snappy, cohesive team try.
Right, you thought. Ireland must be feeling good about themselves after that. They’ll kick on now and make Italy start chasing.
But then Sam Prendergast missed a conversion you’d expect him to slot with his eyes closed. Then Prendergast had a poor exit kick off the restart. Then they conceded a penalty, albeit one that looked a little tough on Cormac Izuchukwu. And Italy kicked three points before Lynagh returned.
There were plenty of other examples in this game of Ireland swinging rather wildly from positive actions to making mistakes that helped give this impressive Italy side relief and a way to get a foothold. And we should underline here that the visitors were good. In fact, Gonzalo Quesada’s side were excellent in patches.
But the struggle to stack up good moments seems to be the way with this Ireland team in recent times.
Yet, there were reasons for optimism in Ireland’s showing and Stuart McCloskey’s latest excellent display was among them. The 33-year-old is probably their best player at present.
His pirouette and offload for Osborne’s try was excellent, while the NFL pass for Robert Baloucoune’s score was even more glamorous. There was a crucial strip on opposite number Leonardo Marin just before half time near Ireland’s tryline. McCloskey’s work rate was huge too, with 16 tackles, nine carries, and 16 passes.
The back three of Osborne, Lowe and Baloucoune impressed, while skipper Caelan Doris was a workhorse up front and had some nice touches on the ball. Cormac Izuchukwu would have loved to get more carries, but he had some strong moments, including an important lineout steal in the second half.
Jack Conan and James Ryan were physical, and the Irish bench had an important impact.
Replacement halfbacks Jamison Gibson-Park and Crowley did a fine job together for the closing 25 minutes and it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see them pair up in the starting XV next weekend.
Farrell’s glowing words about Crowley post-match seemed like a big hint at that. The Ireland boss has been sparing in this regard over the last couple of seasons when it comes to the Munster out-half. But it was a tough afternoon for Prendergast and Farrell could pivot back to Crowley as the starter at number 10.
It was also notable that Farrell said that “one of the best parts of our game today was when Tom O’Toole came on” at loosehead for the second time at Test level and delivered a solid scrum under the Irish posts. He may be preparing to back the Ulster tighthead to start at loosehead against England.
Edwin Edogbo got one of the biggest roars of the afternoon when he came on for his 10-minute cameo and though he gave up what could have been a costly penalty, the Munster lock made his presence felt in his nine tackles.
So there were good things that Ireland can build on, with Farrell once again praising their resilience as his men pulled through on the right side of an intense battle, but they’re aware that they need to keep getting better.
The scrum simply cannot give up momentum and penalties in the way it did yesterday. That’s two of their last three games in which Ireland have been taken to the cleaners at scrum time. John Fogarty, who coaches that area, has another busy week ahead.
Farrell knows that there were a fair few let-offs and that Italy can rightly feel a little sickened to have missed out on their shot at history in Dublin. This is a fine Italian side and they deserve respect for the increasing consistency of their performances.
But Ireland insist that things are moving in the right direction as they aim to cause an upset against England in Twickenham next weekend. They’re hoping it’s the next big step.
“We haven’t been playing our best rugby,” said the ever-succinct McCloskey yesterday.
“Our confidence probably isn’t what it was two or three years ago if you’re being completely honest about it.
“But I think we’re building something pretty special.”
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Six Nations Ireland Italy Mixed Bag stuart mccloskey