Six Nations - Ireland too strong for Italy

Eurosport - Mon, 16 Feb 08:14:00 2009

Ireland kept their Six Nations Grand Slam hopes alive with a 38-9 victory over Italy in Rome.

RUGBY Ireland's Rob Kearney (L) is tackled by Italy's Mauro Bergamasco during their Six Nations rugby union match at the Flaminio Stadium in Rome - 0

The final score flattered an Irish side who were not always at their best, with the final gap between the two extended by two converted tries in the last four minutes.

Italy led 9-7 just before the break but a key converted try from Luke Fitzgerald just before half-time gave Ireland a lead they did not surrender.

A try from David Wallace and a Ronan O'Gara penalty early in the second-half put the game beyond doubt and then Fitzgerald's second try and a Brian O'Driscoll effort added gloss to the score at the death.

Ireland were given an excellent opportunity to get off to a fast start when Andrea Masi was sin-binned after less than a minute for a nasty high tackle on Rob Kearney.

However, sloppy handling and some cheap penalties meant Ireland could not capitalise and two penalties from Luke McLean gave Italy an early 6-0 lead.

Ireland took the lead for the first time in the 15th minute though as Tommy Bowe raced all the way to the line from inside his own half for a try after an Italian pass deflected into his path.

McLean kicked another penalty to put the Italians back in front but he then missed another kickable effort after O'Gara was yellow-carded for tackling off the ball having seen a clearance charged down.

Ireland were not a man down for long though as prop Salvatore Perugini was binned soon after for tackling in the air as Ireland pressed from a lineout.

For the final five minutes of the first half Declan Kidney's side camped inside the Italian 22. The hosts almost held out but Stephen Ferries finally found a gap in the Italy defence and offloaded to Fitzgerald for his first try in an Irish shirt just before the break.

That made it 14-9 to Ireland at the break, a lead they scarcely deserved, but they started the second half with purpose.

They gave themselves some breathing space in the 47th minute when Wallace went over from close range after a great run from Jamie Heaslip had put them in a scoring position.

O'Gara kicked his only penalty of the match soon after, before a turgid spell of stop-start rugby did little to lift the mood of the Stade Flaminio crowd.

However, Fitzgerald got his second try four minutes from time after taking a quick lineout himself before receiving the ball back and finishing in the corner.

Moments later O'Driscoll intercepted a Masi pass and ran in from 70m for a try that was not dissimilar to that of Bowe.

The win sends Ireland top of the Six Nations table ahead of Wales on points difference.

Next up for the Irish is a meeting with England at Croke Park in two weeks' time while Italy travel to Murrayfield to face Scotland.

The next Six Nations weekend begins with a Friday night clash in Paris where France will take on Wales.

Seán Fay / Eurosport

Comment 6 - 25 of 25

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  1. The England / Italy game was a yawnfest, but this was­ even worse... Italy are appalling.

    From Gez, on Mon 16 Feb 10:16AM

  2. ireland for the grand slam..and munster for the­ heinkein cup..wont be stopped

    From orange2tuf, on Mon 16 Feb 10:14AM

  3. the italians were annoying wasps that needed to be­ swatted!!they were so annoying!!

    From sean d, on Mon 16 Feb 8:53AM

  4. Ireland should beat England, Wales were below par and­ England played well above themselves, the final game­ will be a cracker, the Lions will be green and red this­ time.

    From jnstev545, on Mon 16 Feb 8:41AM

  5. It would be easy to get carried away by the prospect of­ a Grand Slam for Ireland as a result of the good start­ to the 6 nations. The win against France was definately­ deserved and Italy was almost a foregone conclusion:­ Ireland may however rue the lack of points against the­ Italians if the championship goes down to the wire.­ France may very well turn over the Welsh which might­ make today's result (and the amount of points­ scored) all the more important. Having watched the­ Ireland rugby team since I was a child,they may­ welllearn a few tricks from the triple crown side of­ the mid 80's captained under Ciaran Fizgerald who­ rued the fact that France brought back all their­ hatchet boys to deny the Irish their first Grand Slam­ since 1949. It was still the most free flowing,­ inventive and captain led Irish team I can ever­ remember, with every try and penalty against the Irish­ resulting in a team huddle under the posts to fire up­ the team again to win the match. Interesting that the­ Welsh were doing the same on Saturday against the­ English. Ireland have flattered to deceive on manys an­ occasion, 'always the bridesmaid, never the­ bride' has never rung more true. If they want to­ win the grand slam this year, they'll win it by­ wiping out the opposition in the first half of the­ match instead of chasing it in the second. That­ said.......C'MON THE BOYS IN GREEN

    From woody, on Mon 16 Feb 1:30AM

  6. The momentum of the 6 nations is growing week on week.­ Both Ireland and Wales have shown fantastic flair and­ cohesion as a team at times, but also the ability to­ get a result when things are not so pretty. I believe­ these are traits of two very good teams and makes a­ deciding game in Cardiff a possibility and a mouth­ watering prospect. Ireland are entitled to be­ confident,however, I believe that the reigning Grand­ Slam champions(not having lost a 6 nations game in­ 2years) will eventually prove too strong. Having said­ that , may the best team(and rugby in general) win.

    From Lee R, on Mon 16 Feb 12:11AM

  7. very poor game ref didnt help much but a win is a win

    From alan, on Sun 15 Feb 11:42PM

  8. This is a great result for Ireland. Ok they did not­ perform as freely today against the Italians as against­ the French but nor should they have. Italy played much­ better and were more organised today then last week but­ i can only see them taking the wooden spoon. They­ haven't enough attacking options.

    And what's­ all this rubbish about fiering the english? They played­ a welsh outfit yesterday minus their star player­ Williams and still lost. With Darcy back in form nd the­ cauldron of Croke Park ready to swallow the english up­ again i can only see one result. Ireland will surely be­ 3-0 in the 6 nations on their way to murreyfield

    From bernardaherne, on Sun 15 Feb 10:57PM

  9. does anyone agree that despite italy being poor they­ improved to the extent that they wud have beaten­ england had they played like this last week.

    From zeppelinsymbols, on Sun 15 Feb 9:27PM

  10. IRELAND! IRELAND! IRELAND! well done the green machine,­ ITALY spoiled this game it was @#$% to watch, ENGLAND­ have to be given respect i think they have huge­ potential i look forward to an entertaining game in­ croke park were real skills will be on display by two­ great teams

    From dermot35, on Sun 15 Feb 8:17PM

  11. Ireland will win the Grand Slam this year because they­ have an outstanding defence structure, and their­ forwards and backs are working as a very effective­ unit. Wales flatter to deceive, yet again!, England are­ just not very good, Scotland are poor and thats it.

    From andrew, on Sun 15 Feb 7:42PM

  12. Keep going on like this.We really believe in you,­ killacky

    From Tessie, on Sun 15 Feb 6:46PM

  13. Not a grat game, lets hope the irish will do better­ against england which im confident they will. C'mon­ Ireland!!

    From C????, on Sun 15 Feb 6:18PM

  14. probably one of the worst games i have seen for a­ while.
    The italians were intent on disrupting any sort­ of rythym the irish team could create.The referee spent­ most of the game giving either side countless­ penalties. A waste of a sunday afternoon. will not be­ watching another italian game this year.

    From irene.carver, on Sun 15 Feb 6:05PM

  15. wasn't pretty but Ireland did exactly what was­ needed to win that sort of a dogged match. Well done­ boys! Take it all the way this year!!!!

    From ptothej, on Sun 15 Feb 6:00PM

  16. Ireland all the way! Go on ye boyz ye!

    From mammyineeda2, on Sun 15 Feb 5:20PM

  17. Very nicely done by ireland....But as an all black­ supporter and a professional rugby player i would liek­ to say that england played well yesterday and ireland­ will have a very tough game agianst the­ english..........

    From Samendra, on Sun 15 Feb 5:12PM

  18. My wife wanted me to decorate this morning..i wish i­ had. I could have sat and watch the paint dry this­ afternoon!!

    From spyatree, on Sun 15 Feb 4:54PM

  19. where is the refresher key on this site

    From chelsearule365, on Sun 15 Feb 2:25PM

  20. Expect a big game from Mauro Bergamasco today boys.­ Italy are gonna win everything on the ground. Don't­ think they'll be able to do anything with the ball­ though...
    c'mon Ireland!!!

    From ptothej, on Sun 15 Feb 12:37PM
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