Italy threatened to deliver the upset of the Six Nations so far but were forced to suffer a familiar fate as Ireland fought back to clinch a 26-16 victory in Rome and inflict a 20th consecutive defeat on the Italians.
Ireland looked to be in cruise control when early tries from Quinn Roux and Jacob Stockdale inside the first quarter put them 12-3 to the good.
But Italy turned on their best display of the Six Nations so far, and not only did they fight their way back into the contest, Conor O’Shea’s side took a deserved lead in at the break.
First, they structured an impressive period of phase play to surge into the Irish 22, and fly-half Tommaso Allan floated a lovely pass out to Edoardo Padovani to score. Minutes later, scrum-half Tito Tebaldi wrestled the ball from Conor Murray’s grasp inside Italy’s own 22, and after he ran clear and kicked up-field, the ball was recycled and spread into space for centre Luca Morisi to score.
The try gave Italy a 16-11 half-time lead, but Ireland restored their control on the match after the break. Keith Earls put the defending champions back in front when he jinked his way past Dean Budd and Tebaldi to score, before Murray found himself on the back of a driving maul to score the bonus point-sealing fourth try.
Italy had a late chance to kick a penalty that would have claimed a losing bonus point, but Ian McKinley’s penalty dragged wide and when combined with Allan’s missed kicks, saw Italy spurn 10 points that could have drawn the match.
So how did the players perform? Click on the gallery above to find out.
