Five takeaways from Italy v Ireland

Colin Newboult

Garry Ringrose of Ireland celebrates after try Roma, Olimpico stadium, 27/02/2021. Italy vs Ireland Six Nations 2021 rugby trophy Photo Antonietta Baldassarre/ Insidefoto/Sipa USA

Following a 48-10 victory for Ireland over Italy in their Six Nations game, here’s our five takeaways from the match at the Stadio Olimpico.

Banana skin avoided for Andy Farrell

One could see the pressure hovering over Farrell heading into this fixture as anything other than a comfortable win would keep the pressure on him, which would have been amplified with the Championship going into another fallow week. However, this six-try victory will have pleased him greatly and with every score you could see the release of tension from Farrell under his face mask. Yes, there are bigger tests to come against Scotland (away) and England (home), but for now he’ll be thrilled with how his pre-game team changes panned out, the intensity and clinical edge of the players on the field and how they pushed until the end.

Life in the old dog yet

In a week that has seen rumours of Jonathan Sexton’s possible retirement before the 2023 Rugby World Cup cover plenty of column inches – talk that was quickly rebuffed by the fly-half – Sexton answered back in the best possible way on Saturday. The veteran number 10 looked full of energy and confidence against Italy as he came away with an 18-point haul in Rome, playing with a spring in his step in a performance that he seemed to enjoy greatly. The timing of his passes to Hugo Keenan for Will Connors’ first try and Keith Earls late on were delightful and he’ll take so much from this game as he looks to continue at the top level.

Italy’s heir to Diego Dominguez

We’ve written a lot about Paolo Garbisi but he really does look the part at this level. Despite always playing behind a pack that gets shunted backwards, the youngster often takes the right decisions and makes something happen with ball in hand. That was similarly the case against Ireland as his step and off-load set up their only try for Johan Meyer. The 20-year-old still has plenty to learn, with his kicking game out of hand a weakness, but part of that is down to the pressure he is consistently under.

If only Garbisi was around when the likes of Martin Castrogiovanni and Sergio Parisse were in their pomp then the Azzurri might have won more games in the Six Nations. Unfortunately, it is almost the reverse of that era with the best of the Italian talent being produced behind the scrum. As a result of the issues up front, it rather stunted their attack against Ireland as the progress they appeared to make against England rather stalled.

A statement performance from Ronan Kelleher

Since Rory Best’s retirement, a spot has opened up at hooker, but no one had previously grasped their opportunity. Between Rob Herring, Dave Heffernan and Kelleher, there is a place available for one of those three, but none have particularly stepped up. That was until the Leinster man showed why he is so highly rated by those connected with the Dubliners. The 23-year-old has always been the most dynamic and powerful of the trio but his lineout throwing was a massive issue, especially at international level. That was much improved in Rome, however, while he was typically influential and productive in the loose. An excellent day for Kelleher, who did more than enough to retain his place for the Scotland game in two weeks’ time.

Not a great day for the officials

Where to start with that – to us anyway – pretty clear try that wasn’t awarded to Iain Henderson early in the match? It was staggering that it wasn’t, at the very least, given an official check when the second-row touched down in the opening 10 minutes. It was deemed a knock on by on-field referee Mathieu Raynal, but television match official Romain Poite didn’t see fit to bring play back and inform Raynal of a potential score. Perhaps it was justice, given that the initial attack was started by Ireland being two yards offside, leading to an Italian breakdown infringement. And it was rather symptomatic of the officials’ 80 minutes, who were inconsistent throughout.