Ireland was not flamboyant, was even jostled, but is still in the race to achieve the grand slam in this 2023 edition of the Six Nations Tournament. The XV of Clover ended up winning on Saturday February 25 on the lawn of the Olympic Stadium in Rome, against an Italian team (20-34) which continues to surprise.
If the passion of the Transaplins was not enough against the world numbers one, huge favorites before this meeting, there was a match. Even if the very first moments of the meeting suggested the opposite. The Irish scored a first try (2ᵉ) by James Lowe – which will ultimately be canceled. A few seconds later, the same Lowe launched his captain, James Ryan, for a try this time validated (3ᵉ).
The duo was part of the holders aligned, on February 11, during the slap inflicted on the XV of France (32-19) in Dublin. This afternoon, they were still in the game, despite the seven changes made by the coach in his starting team – some having been forced: captain Jonathan Sexton was, for example, injured.
By rotating his squad against Italy, considered the weakest opponent in the competition, Andy Farrell wanted above all to gauge his replacements for the next World Cup (from September 8 to October 28 in France), which the Ireland are aiming to win.
Fifteen points out of fifteen possible
The boss of the XV of Clover could see that some of his players still lack benchmarks. Because after their first try, his troops suffered for ten big minutes the pressure of an Italy determined to prove that it is neither the stooge nor the scapegoat of the other selections in this Tournament. La Nazionale reacted quickly thanks to a fine try from Stephen Varney (7ᵉ), which allowed them to temporarily take the lead.
⌚️ Pierre Bruno sneaking in the interception try just in the nick of time for Italy before the end of the first hal… https://t.co/6kgQUFTqdG
Enthusiastic offensively and daring – like Pierre Bruno’s recovery and test before the break (40ᵉ + 1) –, however, the Italians were clumsy. The Irish took advantage of this in the first period to score three tries by Hugo Keenan (13ᵉ), Bundee Aki (20ᵉ) and Mack Hansen (35ᵉ). Enough to get a third offensive bonus in three games for Ireland, even before returning to the locker room.
In the second period, the XV of Clover broke their teeth for a long time on a valiant Italian defense and scored only one more try, thanks to Hansen’s double (71ᵉ). Italy’s defeat was sealed, even if they can boast of having remained in contact with the score for a good part of the match.
Ireland, for its part, will not have realized “the full eighty minutes” researched by James Lowe. But the XV of Clover continues its way to victory in this Six Nations Tournament and has taken, after three games, fifteen points out of a possible fifteen. He has two games left to achieve his third grand slam after 2009 and 2018. He will have to win in Scotland, the only other undefeated team before his match against France on Sunday, March 12, then at home against England, March 18.