Ireland 34

Italy 26

John Fallon reports from Georgia

IRELAND CERTAINLY DIDN’T have it all their own way, but they were good value for their win which wrapped up ninth place at the U20 World Championship on a rainy night in Georgia.

Andrew Browne’s men were again forced to dig deep in Kutaisi, but they came good to make it three wins on the spin after the disappointing opening losses to England and Argentina.

Ireland led 22-14 at the end of an opening half where both sides enjoyed good passages of possession but, indicative of their displays in this tournament, often did not finish opportunities.

Ireland showed good patience to hit the front after six minutes, some good offloads and support running ending with captain Josh Neill finishing after they wore down the cover. Daniel Green added the extras for the perfect start.

But the lead lasted just three minutes as Italy cut the Irish defence with fullback Pietro Celi putting Enoch Opuku-Gyamfi away and the lock, who was capped at senior level against Chile during last season, fended off Daniel Ryan to score.

Ireland responded well and a tapped penalty ended several phases later with hooker Duinn Maguire scoring, with Green’s conversion making it 14-7 after 16 minutes.

Once again Ireland conceded after scoring, losing possession as they tried to run out of their 22 and prop Erik Merdi pounced to score with scrum-half Mattia Andretti converting to level.

Both sides enjoyed some good defensive moments but a break from No.8 Diarmaid O’Connell created an opening which was finished in the right corner by winger Charlie Molony after out-half Charlie O’Shea went wide.

Green missed the conversion but stretched the lead to 19-14 four minutes from the break with a penalty after they had failed to hold possession after going to the right corner with an earlier kick.

The deteriorating weather made conditions extremely difficult after the restart and while Ireland continued to have an edge they were unable to increase their lead during a scoreless third quarter with a good battle up front where Connacht tighthead Luke Murtagh, who only arrived in Georgia on Wednesday after recovering from injury, made a big impression when introduced at the break.

Italy reduced the margin to 22-21 15 minutes from time even though No.8 Jaheim Wilson was in the bin but Molony threaded a neat ball through for out-half O’Shea to score, but Green’s missed conversion left the gap at six points 10 minutes from time.

There was a let-off for Ireland seven minutes from the end when 148kg Opoku-Gyamfi had a converted try scratched for a forward pass in the build-up and there was further woe for Italy four minutes later when Connacht’s Seán Walsh intercepted from deep to wrap up the win.

There was still time for Italy’s Nikolaj Varotto to pull back a try but by then Ireland had sealed their third win of the tournament.

Ireland scorers:

Tries: J Neill, D Maguire, C Molony, C O’Shea, Seán Walsh (Connacht).

Conversions: D Green (3 from 5). Pen: Green.

Italy scorers:

Tries: E Opoku-Gyamfi, E Meroi, L de Novellis, N Varotto.

Conversions: M Andretti (3 from 4)

Ireland: Daniel Green; Charlie Molony, Rob Carney (Jack Deegan 54), James O’Leary (Seán Walsh (Connacht) 54), Daniel Ryan; Charlie O’Shea, Christopher Barrett (Luke Coffey 60); Max Doyle (Adam Cooper 65), Duinn Maguire (Rian Handley 54), Blake McClean (Luke Murtagh half-time); Joe Finn, Donnacha McGuire (Seán Walsh (Leinster) 27); Josh Neill (c), Alex Lautsou (Charlie Keane 65), Diarmaid O’Connell.

Italy: Pietro Celi; Luca de Novellis, Giacomo Falchetto, Riccardo Casarin (c), Luca Rossi (Nikolaj Varotto 62); Roberto Fasti (Alessandro Ragusi 60), Mattia Andretti; Emiliano Mastropasqua, Valerio Pelli (Ettore Patricio 48), Erik Meroi (Luca Trevisan 74); Simone Fardin (Fabio Salvanti 50), Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi (Carlo Bianchi 74); Antony Miranda, Davide Sette, Jaheim Wilson.

Referee: Ruairidh Campbell (Scotland).