Malcolm O’Kelly was very impressed with Ireland’s performance against Italy in Dunedin, particularly in the second half when our greater class began to tell.
OK, this was the big banana skin we were all apprehensive about as we wondered how would Ireland deal with a big, physical, confident Italian side desperate for their own World Cup dream.
Well, the team’s answer was emphatic, with arguably their best display and certainly their most comprehensive. The nightmare of the performances in the warm-up matches are now a distant memory, but if nothing else, they are a reminder of how important they are to blow out the cobwebs of a pre-season, but how inaccurate they are as an indicator to form.
Today, the big game players stood up and were hugely influential. The first man on the team sheet, Sean O’Brien, started at a frenetic pace, especially in defence where he was flying off the line, pressurising and stymieing the early Italian phase play, taking ball on.
Initially, he was finding inches rather than metres, but inevitably he started finding gaps and weaknesses in Italy’s defence. Others like O’Connell, Ferris and Heaslip were omnipresent, suffocating and battering Italian attacks and bulldozing in the Irish attack.
Gordon D’Arcy, who had a cloud over his form with injuries striking at the worst times, finally made his mark on the competition. He was rejuvenated, attacking the 10/12 channel with the stealth of old. It would be remiss of me not to mention Tommy Bowe, who was hungry for work and unlucky not to dot at least one try down.
The direct threat at midfield had been absent from our play and it is heartening to see it back.
Right from the off you could tell the Italians were pumped and were up for a brawl. The anticipation for the first scrum was massive and unmistakably Ireland seemed to have the edge. There was nothing of great consequence in the eyes of Jonathan Kaplan, who let the first half a dozen scrums play out without a penalty.
The first penalty from a scrum went the way of the Italians and resulted in three points. However, a key moment in this battle, with only 25 minutes elapsed, was the loss of Castrogiovanni. He was replaced by Lo Cicero, forcing Perugini to the tight-head side where he is less familiar. This gave the Irish front row a distinct advantage by nullifying the Italian threat.
The first half had it all: the good the bad and the ugly, crisp attacking rugby from Ireland, dynamic forward play from Italy.
Ireland controlled the game with a territorial edge to their game plan. O’Gara and Murray were looking to pin them in their own half, but weren’t afraid to throw it around either.
Italy got good field position off restarts and penalties, and looked to their set pieces for a platform. Their rolling maul was dealt with poorly by Ireland and but for their ill-discipline – a reactive punch by Mauro Bergamasco – they might well have crashed over for the first try of the game.
Poor discipline, which had previously seemed inherent in Italian rugby but which Nick Mallet had worked so hard on to eradicate, reared its ugly head for the world to see again. Cian Healy, who was counter rucking and well within his rights, was gouged by Giraldhini, the Italian hooker, but in his defence it was only momentarily. Still it looked very definite on a replay and will be dealt with severely, I expect, by the IRB.
Thumbs up for Gordon D’Arcy, who was back on form in Dunedin
Ireland should have gone into the break with the first try under their belts when a super turnover by Jamie Heaslip in Italian territory was whipped away into midfield from Ferris to O’Brien, who tucked it under his wing and went for a rampage and delivered a timely offload to Tommy Bowe.
Bowe juggled with it and controlled it and was clean through and under the sticks. Unfortunately, Kaplan judged the offload to have been forward, but perhaps the TMO should have been involved to give a definitive judgement.
It turned out to be a tale of two halves; one for its ferocity and the other for its one-sidedness. Ireland came out and found another gear that the Italians could not live with and as desperate and courageous as they were, Ireland’s class started to show itself.
In yet another multi-phase play, Tommy Bowe, stepping in at first receiver, rounded an Italian midfield defence wearied by the battle. O’Driscoll, reading his line of running, switched inside him, offering Tommy a simple offload option on a two on one and with the winger feeding O’Driscoll, he was clean through and his patented slide for the first score broke the Italian hearts.
The onslaught would continue from the ensuing restart and it was a bitter pill for the Italians to swallow as the Irish turned the screw. A dominant Irish scrum dished them up the resultant penalty and gave Ireland great field position. Step up Mr. D’Arcy. Off the top ball from the lineout, he was unleashed and did a number on the new out-half replacement, fending and charging his way to the line before stopping some 10 metres short.
Some ambitious goal-line attacking saw the ball being whipped from one side of the pitch to the other and then back again to the waiting Earls, who dived over for an exquisite try and hammered yet another nail in the Italian coffin. The direct threat at midfield had been absent from our play and it is heartening to see it back.
The nightmare of the performances in the warm-up matches are now a distant memory, but if nothing else, they are a reminder of how important they are to blow out the cobwebs of a pre-season, but how inaccurate they are as an indicator to form.
The dominance continued into 60 minutes with consistent pressure. Rob Kearney came close but was denied by the TMO and although the scoreboard was unaffected, this was a key period as Ireland dominated territory, quashing whatever fight was left in Italy in the process.
Eventually Italy had their opportunity with a lineout on Ireland’s line but for once, an inaccurate throw allowed Ireland to gather and clear.
Italy’s focus and concentration was letting them down and Ireland always seemed at hand to profit from a spilled ball while trying to counter. An off the ball block on an onrushing D’Arcy gave the reinstated Sexton an opportunity to kick one over, which he duly did.
A now punch-drunk Italian side seemed destined to get a try when battering the Irish and being given a scrum five metres out. A brace of changes from Ireland surely offered Italy the initiative. Instead they forced the issue, led by Tom Court, who was devastating in that scrum.
With the lines cleared, Tommy Bowe was unleashed, and after a series of kick-throughs, a dive for the line and what seemed like a deliberate foul on him by the Italian stopping him from scoring, the TMO adjudged that there was no foul play.
However, they were not to be denied. The following restart was gathered and taken up by Kearney, this time Trimble was at first receiver and blasted through a now ragged Italian defence. Trimble off-loaded and delivered a well-timed pass to Earls, who zipped in to cap a marvellous, well-earned and well-deserved win.
The path is now clear and the next stop is Wellington to face Wales next Saturday. For Ireland, key concerns will be the well being of their squad, particularly O’Connell and Rory Best, who looked like he damaged his AC joint, which may well put him in doubt.
And for us, the main concern is that the game is on at 6am on Saturday morning!
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