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Italy vs. Ireland: Score, Report and Reaction from 2015 Six Nations Clash
Published: February 7, 2015
Joe Schmidt will have been pleased to get the result first and foremost, but his side failed to inspire in their carrying game and relied on fly-half Ian Keatley to provide the bulk of their points, RTE Rugby confirming the result:
Keatley came in as replacement for the injured Jonny Sexton, while Tommy O'Donnell deputised at openside following Sean O'Brien's tragically timed setback during Saturday's warm-ups.
Italy's tag as Wooden Spoon favourites didn't affect the tempo of Saturday's clash to begin with, the defending champions finding their hosts to be most stingy in terms of chances offered.
However, Ireland's lack of running opportunities seemed more as a result of their own infuriating mistakes than solely due to the Azzurri's defensive duties, although those were certainly a factor.
Keatley, still inexperienced on the Ireland Test stage, did go through some growing pains, and as Andy McGeady of the Irish Times suggested, the first half was a drab one in Rome:
The Irish fly-half did manage to give his team a 9-3 lead at the break, but this wasn't exactly the free-flowing start to their tournament that Ireland will have wanted.
Despite the lack of points, Ireland did consistently maintain a majority of the pressure, however, with OptaJonny illustrating just how much pressure Jacques Brunel's side came under:
Pressure is one thing, but a failure to make it tell threatened to put the result in doubt unless the visiting side could find an extra gear.
And find an extra gear they did, just after hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini was yellow carded for disrupting an Irish maul, scrum-half Conor Murray punishing the home outfit not long...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Rugby Union
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