Mack Hansen a shining light as unimpressive Ireland stumble to bonus-point win
Italy 17 Ireland 22
After a crushing defeat to France last Saturday, Ireland went into the game knowing a third successive Six Nations title was all but out of reach. They stumbled in this game on a number of occasions, with Mack Hansen and Dan Sheehan shining lights in a stop-start performance Rome against an improving Italian side.
Neither side looked incredibly sharp in the opening 10 minutes, but a moment of magic from Italy opened up Ireland just after that period. A nice offload in a tackle from Tommaso Menoncello found Paolo Garbisi, who kicked wonderfully past the Irish line and Monty Ioane sailed in after a burst of pace. The two points were duly added by Tommaso Allan.
Ireland were lucky to survive another scare as Menoncello carried the ball extremely, well breaking the line but an errant pass later in the play broke down the move. Ireland seemed to respond just shy of the 20 minute mark, a maul presenting an opportunity for Finlay Bealham after Jamison Gibson-Park carried it out. However, he grounded the ball well before the try line and the visitors would have seek a breakthrough again.
Hugo Keenan did eventually find that space after Ireland toiled away trying to wear down the resilient Italian defence. A nice quick pass into his path from Jack Crowley off a scrum set him up to run through the gap, and Crowley’s boot delivered the two points needed to level the sides on 23 minutes.
After a quieter ten minutes passed by, proceedings were made interesting by the hosts once more as a stunning Allan penalty that came from Ringrose being in an offside position.
Ireland needed an opportunity to present itself and through an Italian mishap, it did. Michele Lamaro deliberately knocked the ball on in the ruck, earning himself the yellow card punishment and Ireland took full advantage. Dan Sheehan barreled over the line after an Irish lineout, punishing the Italian captain in the highest degree.
The half-time whistle arrived after Jack Crowley failed to deliver the extra two, leaving Ireland ahead by just two points at 12-10. It was a fortunate lead, as Ireland hadn’t exactly set the world alight with their first half performance.
After a disappointing opening, five minutes into the second half Ireland came alive through a Mack Hansen breakaway. They were foiled at the line once more following a lengthy TMO check, but a more definitive effort came from Sheehan and Ireland extended their lead to 17-10 as Crowley’s kicking struggles continued.
It appeared that Ireland had fully shaken off their French hangover on the 53rd minute mark, with pressure applied in front of the Italian try line and a lovely dummy from Crowley sending Keenan in on an left sided overlap. However, a Caelan Doris knock-on from a previous tackle ticked it off the Irish scoreboard.
A sloppy performance from Gibson-Park was somewhat rectified when he kicked towards Mack Hansen on Ireland’s right, who wonderfully caught, collected and offloaded all in the air to put in the path of Dan Sheehan for a hat-trick of tries. Crowley though, was once again off the mark from the tee as the scoreboard read 22-10, bonus-point secured for Ireland.
A blitzing Italy response on 63 minutes stunned Ireland somewhat, as Ange Capuozzo accelerated lightning-quick before kicking over the Irish backline. Mack Hansen appeared to have it covered but it slipped through where Stephen Varney touched it down to cut Ireland’s lead to five after Allan converted.
It set up a nervy end to the game for Ireland, who left six points behind them from conversions. A sloppy pass from Sam Prendergast five minutes from the 80 left Ireland in a very nervy position when Leonardo Marin burst into the Irish half. However, the hosts ceded possession and Ireland were able to breathe a sigh of relief, for then at least.
They managed to hold on to their lead until the final whistle, but it was far from impressive.
Ireland: Hugo Keenan; Mack Hansen, Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw (Bundee Aki, 55′), James Lowe; Jack Crowley (Sam Prendergast, 64′), Jamison Gibson-Park (Conor Murray, 66); Andrew Porter (Jack Boyle, 64′), Dan Sheehan (Gus McCarthy, 70′), Finlay Bealham (Tadhg Furlong, 46′); James Ryan, Tadhg Beirne; Jack Conan, Josh Van Der Flier (Peter O’Mahony, 51′), Caelan Doris
Italy: Tommaso Allan (Leonardo Marin, 75′); Ange Capuozzo, Juan Ignacio Brex, Tommaso Menoncello, Monty Ioane; Paolo Garbisi, Martin Page-Relo (Stephen Varney, 45′); Danilo Fischetti (Mirco Spagnolo, 55′), Gianmarco Lucchesi, Simone Ferrari (Giosue Zilocchi, 55′); Dino Lamb (Niccolo Cannone, 18′ (Ross Vintcent, 29′ (Giacomo Nicotera, 68′))), Federico Ruzza; Sebastian Negri (Michele Lamaro, 29′), Manuel Zuliani, Lorenzo Cannone