That’s the lot from me. Thanks for reading today and thanks for all your many emails. See you next time.
A DM on Twitter arrived from Colm Geoghegan during the match: “I’m not surprised Ireland are playing crap, it’s like being told to go out and club an injured baby seal to death.”
Yes, it did feel a bit like that.
Our snap match report:
I’m still getting emails from people who are scouring the laws and insisting the referee got it wrong, and Italy should have been able to remain with 14 men on the park. I think this demonstrates that the onus is on World Rugby / the Six Nations to clarify this. It seemed to come down, essentially, to some miscommunication (or rather, the Italians being honest about the fact they didn’t have a player capable of playing hooker on the bench, after they lost one to injury, and one to a red card).
The important point for World Rugby to address moving forwards, as has been pointed out by some of you already, is that teams are now very likely, if not certain, to lie in the same scenario, and say they have a front-rower who can play hooker on the bench when they don’t, if the alternative is going down to 13 rather than 14.
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Lamaro, the Italy captain, speaks to ITV about going down to 13 men: “It was really punishing us ... obviously it’s the rule ... I don’t know.” He shrugs.
“We’ve lost by 60 points so ... I couldn’t ask any more from the boys. I’m sure we showed something. But it’s difficult to be happy with such a result ... I have to say the boys really fight, and stayed in the fight ... Credit to them [Ireland], they had to adapt to some areas that were easy to attack. With 15 against 13, you have to leave something [in defence].”
“Is the ref not allowed to apply common sense?” emails Phil. “It was clear the first hooker was injured and therefore the Italians were not trying to pull a fake so why could he not allow them to have 14 players? I understand the purpose of the law but common sense should also be allowed. It was never a sending off offence anyway.”
“No point in blaming the ref or saying the ref has ruined the game,” writes Johnny. “Sadly his [red card] call was correct. If the Italians knew the rules they could have said that they DID have a front row player who could play hooker, put their sub prop in (which they did anyway) and then have contested scrums (albeit with 7 forwards). They could have struggled on with 14 players, rather than the impossible 13 players.”
The Ireland head coach, Andy Farrell, speaks: “It was a strange old game. I thought it was sloppy at times, we were sloppy at times ... the scoreboard were 57-6, you’d think we’d be happy with that ... I suppose we got the points we needed in the end but a game becomes frustrating, when it comes down to that, doesn’t it? ... I thought Italy were unbelievably brave, I thought they started the game really well with 15 men ... but having said that, when they went down to 13 for most of the game, I thought they were so brave, getting off the line, they were tough, hard at the breakdown and give us lots to ponder.”
And his opinion of the law which saw Italy reduced to 13? “It’s not nice, is it? It’s not nice to see for the game ... but I understand why ... I suppose when you get a game like that, and you get a team that goes down to 12 men, they [World Rugby] will have a look at it, probably.”
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Brian O’Driscoll on ITV: “The referee dealt with it extremely well ... there was confusion in the Italian camp ...”
Is the law right? Rory Best, alongside O’Driscoll on pundit duty, says: “I don’t think we should be talking about the law, and some of the little intricacies around it ... when something gets confusing, and it needs to be explained two or three times [to the players] then you’ve got to ask yourself, is it a bit complicated? ... Ultimately we’re talking about a moment that descended the game into a little bit of a farce.”
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The debutant Michael Lowry, who scored two of Ireland’s nine tries, speaks to ITV: “It’s a special feeling ... I tried to compose myself [before the match] ... I suppose just lining out for the anthems was the best moment. It’s everyone’s childhood dream.
“It was just about playing our game [after the red card]. Fair play to Italy, they kept coming at us.”
Full-time! Ireland 57-6 Italy
Ireland will take the win – of course they will – but that was an unsatisfactory occasion all told. Rugby is a relatively complex sport and people will always have differing opinions. I’ve had lots of emails saying it was a clear red card for Hame Faiva. I’ve had lots saying it wasn’t even a yellow card, let alone a red. As is often the case, it was a split-second decision for the tackler, and although there was little or no malice in the challenge, I suspect that World Rugby will deem it that Nika Amashukeli correctly applied the laws, and took the necessary decision to show Faiva a red card. What happened then, of course, is what is going to be debated long into the night. Reaction coming up.
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Try! 80min: Ireland 57-6 Italy (Treadwell)
Conan crashes to the line, then Sexton takes it up, and eventually Treadwell bundles his way over for the final play of the game, and the final try of the game. Sexton belts the conversion through the middle and it’s all over.
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80 min: One last chance for Ireland. They camp themselves in the Italy 22 again and then shove a driving maul over ... but Italy manage to hold it up! They will restart, but can’t kick it into touch to end the match ... Ireland will come again.
Try! 76 min: Ireland 50-6 Italy (Lowe)
In the Italy 22 and it’s just a matter of who scores for Ireland. Lowry has a clear sight of the try-line and a hat-trick, but he decides instead to pass to Lowe who is lurking on the wing. Sexton adds the extras and raises his bat having brought up the 50.
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75 min: Ireland come again down their right wing, almost to the try line. There’s the suggestion of a deliberate hand batting the ball into touch by Braam Steyn, a la Luke Cowan Dickie against Scotland (although it’s a pass inside, and not from a high ball) ... anyway, the TMO has a look, the referee has a look, and they agree it’s a yellow card. Italy are down to 12 men for the final five minutes.
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Try! 70 min: Ireland 43-6 Italy (Baird)
Italy have the ball on their own 22. Baird charges down a box kick brilliantly and gallops on to it with no one close to him. He picks up the ball skifully and with a minimum of fuss, and touches down for the latest try of Ireland’s training session. Sexton converts.
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66 min: Ireland shove a maul up a few metres in the middle of the park. O’Mahony then makes a burst through the defensive line and attempts an expansive offload but it’s spoiled by an Italian hand. Leaving aside the controversy over the officiating, there has been some decent stuff from Italy at times. Before the red card they were competing well enough.
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65 min: A relevant story here from this morning, by Andy Bull, with regard to high tackles, head injuries and how rugby is dealing with them:
60 min: Finlay Bealham, the scrum-half Craig Casey and Kieran Treadwell are introduced to the action by the Ireland coach, Andy Farrell. Braam Steyn was brought on by Italy a few minutes ago.
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Try! 58 min: Ireland 36-6 Italy (Lowry)
57 min: Ireland have acres of space to attack. Sexton normally operates in more difficult conditions than this ... He bursts into the Italy 22, where his teammates are queuing up. Sexton passes to Lowry, who dummies to his left, but then storms over the line for his second try of the game. It’s turning into a memorable debut for the Ulster full-back, Lowry, and the smile on his face suggests he won’t care that it’s against 13 men. Quite right too.
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55 min: Jack Conan, the British & Irish Lions back rower, comes on for Ireland with Caelan Doris going off.
Try! 52 min: Ireland 29-6 Italy (Lowe)
Ireland have the ball in the Italy 22. A meaningful carry by Beirne creates plenty of space for the ball to be spun out left and Lowe falls over the line. Carbery misses the conversion and then leaves the action, with Johnny Sexton coming on.
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50 min: Yes, there is still a rugby match happening. Manuel Zuliani comes on for Italy, Niccolo Cannone goes off. For Ireland, Dave Kilcoyne has come on for Andrew Porter in the front row.
47 min: Italy are battling away impressively with their 13 men. They’ve been working through a few phases of possession in the Irish half. In the end, Ireland win a penalty at the breakdown, and Carbery kicks for the corner.
44 min: OK we’ll draw a line under that one until after the match. Ireland lead 24-6. Garbisi missed a shot at goal from the tee a few moments ago.
43 min: “Isn’t the upshot of this new law to reduce the numbers that it encourages teams to pretend one of their props can play as hooker, even if they can’t and it’s not really safe to do so?” emails Mike.
“Would Italy rather have 14 players and contested scrums with a dodgy part time hooker? Maybe they would...”
I believe they would, quite right, yes. The laws need looking at (again).
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Second half kick-off!
We’re under way for the second half. But the emails keep coming about the decision that’s going to define the match.
“If scrums are uncontested, why does a specialist front row player have to be brought on? How can there be a safety issue?” asks James.
Good question. That is what confused me initially - I thought Italy were bringing on another front row to play hooker, so the scrums would continue to be contested.
“Italy are certain to concede a cricket score now,” adds James. “Ably assisted by harsh refereeing and daft rules. The idea that this farcical situation could happen in a meaningful fixture between two evenly matched teams is not especially realistic.”
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On ITV they’ve shown the relevant Law 3.20: “If a front-row player is sent off, and the team cannot continue with contested scrums with players already on the field, then the team nominates another player to leave the playing area to enable an available front-row player to come on. The nominated player may act as a replacement.”
But, but ... Italy didn’t nominate the No 8, Halafihi, to go off, did they? He was just ordered off by the ref. That’s what I saw, anyway.
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Email from Michael Bate:
“Lucchesi went off, replaced by Faiva.
Faiva sent off.
Bruno went off, replaced by Nemer.
Halafihi went off why?”
The answer is (and I’m sure you’ll all email me to tell me I’m wrong) is that in the absence of the two hookers, one injured and one sent off, they switched to uncontested scrums. In this instance, it means that Italy have to lose a second player, because the team reduced to 14 gains a benefit by virtue of switching to uncontested scrums. The referee did not make this very clear at the time, and neither did the commentators.
I said it was ludicrous because at the first scrum after the sending-off, the referee did a bit of maths and then sent off Italy’s No 8. Whether the laws themselves are ludicrous is another question. It wasn’t a very attractive scene, but the referee appeared to apply the laws regarding high tackles meticulously and correctly, so perhaps you can’t argue with the decision regarding the red card. I think we can safely say that this wasn’t the Six Nations debut that Nika Amashukeli was hoping for as a referee, anyway, and I have sympathy for him, because he’s clearly trying to do his best.
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Penalty for Italy and half-time! Ireland 24-6 Italy
Ireland have the bonus point wrapped up. Another defeat for Italy in the Six Nations is assured, but Garbisi knocks over a late penalty anyway and reduces the deficit slightly.
Try! 37 min: Ireland 24-3 Italy (O’Mahony)
Bonus point sealed for Ireland before half-time. O’Mahony goes over. But it all feels a bit pointless. Anyway, I’m still trying to get my head around exactly what the law says about the scrums and the decision to reduce Italy to 13 men.
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33 min: “Shocking decision by the refs,” writes Ben Heywood on email. “No force, Sheehan just ran into the Italian replacement hooker, who is about six inches shorter. Chin to shoulder, not shoulder to chin. Rubbish, not even worth a yellow, now we have uncontested scrums, and an even greater mismatch ... a dreadful advert for the laws and the game in general.”
Try! 30 min: Ireland 19-3 Italy (Lowry)
Ireland are in the Italy 22 again, and they ease across the try-line again, Carbery feeding Lowry who skips neatly around the cover – in this case, the outside centre Juan Ignacio Brex – and touches down. Carbery misses the kick.
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28 min: “What is the point of watching this match after the Italians have been reduced to 13 men?” wonders Pierre Chardaire on email. “Fortunately, I did not pay to be in the stadium.”
Tim Barrow adds: “Speaking as a neutral, that sending off is a totally insane decision. The referee has killed the game. Yellow card yes; red no.”
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24 min: By the way, Ivan Nemer is the front-rower that came on for Italy after the red card for the replacement hooker, Hame Faiva. As far as I saw, the No 8 Toa Halafihi was also ordered off, and Italy are down to 13.
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Try! 21 min: Ireland 14-3 Italy (Gibson-Park)
James Lowe does well to punch through on the left and offloads to Gibson-Park who darts over. As Gordon D’Arcy says on commentary on ITV this has become a training match for Ireland, but one in which two players have been taken out of the action for the defending side. Italy were struggling before but now they are hopelessly stretched.
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20 min: The debutant wing, Pierre Bruno, has gone off. Italy pack down for the scrum. But Italy have eight men in the scrum. Amashukeli spots that, and orders the No 8 off the field. This is a ludicrous, even if the referee is applying the laws correctly.
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20 min: So now, the referee, Nika Amashukeli, is trying to establish how Italy are going to contest the scrums, because we have the first one of the match ... he’s telling Michele Lamaro that Italy are going to have to play with the rest of the match with 13 men because they want to bring another front-rower on. This is, er, not ideal.
Red card! 19 min: Hame Faiva (Italy)
The Azzurri were actually threatening to make a decent game of this ... but that looks to be that. As always it was a split-second decision for Faiva, and it was a dangerous hit, but perhaps it’s a bit harsh anyway. So Italy’s hooker – who came off the bench following an early injury to Gianmarco Lucchesi – is gone.
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19 min: The referee Nika Amashukeli is going to produce a red card, I think.
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19 min: Ringrose tries to offload and is crushed by a tackle by Toa Halafihi who dumps him into the floor. No problem with that one. But then Sheehan has the ball and takes a strong hit by Faiva who leads with his shoulder. The TMO is having a look.
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17 min: More nice stuff from Italy. They have a lineout on the Ireland 22. They get the set-piece right, winning clean ball, and then proceed to move the ball around a little and try and punch a hole or two in this Ireland defence. They don’t make much headway, Irish bodies swarming all around, but Italy do keep the ball alive, and Garbisi decides to put up a garryowen, which is chased enthusiastically by a couple of his teammates. James Lowe, however, gathers the ball and claims the mark.
Penalty! 14 min: Ireland 7-3 Italy (Padovani)
That is a hell of a kick by the Italian full-back. Mack Hansen gives away a penalty challenging for a high ball on halfway. Or was it Beirne for being offside? I have to admit, I’m not sure. But anyway Italy point at the posts, and Padovani nails it straight through the middle with a stunning kick off the tee. Great stuff.
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10 min: Italy have a promising position, with the ball, on the Ireland 22. Faiva has it at the back of a ruck, but an Irish hand reaches over and grabs his jersey and stops him from using the ball effectively. Italy do keep possession, but Tadhg Beirne is there to spoil Italian ball again, and in fact rip it out of the hands of Stephen Varney, and he wins a penalty. Italy have to compete better than that and protect their possession if they are going to get any kind of foothold.
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9 min: A lovely offload in midfield from Josh van der Flier to his back-row partner Doris sums up the dexterity with which Ireland are handling the ball, from one through to 15.
8 min: Gianmarco Lucchesi, the young Azzurri hooker, looks to have sustained a painful injury to his left arm. Hame Faiva dons his scrum cap and comes off the bench for an unexpectedly early introduction to the fray.
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Try! 4 min: Ireland 7-0 Italy (Carbery)
As I mentioned, Ireland’s carrying, and the speed with which they are shifting the ball through the hands is too much for Italy to deal with. A burst down the Ireland left by Caelan Doris ends with an offload to Carbery from Dan Sheehan. Carbery speeds to the line, is half-tackled, but manages to touch down near the posts. He converts his own score and Ireland are up and running.
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3 min: Garry Ringrose, the Irish No 13, leaves the field with a blood injury.
2 min: Front-foot ball for Ireland early on after Monty Ioane puts a kick out on the full. They make immediate inroads with a mixture of powerful carrying and smart hands, building momentum and punching holes in the Italian defence from the start.
First half kick-off!
Paolo Garbisi gets the game going. Ireland gather the kick safely.
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“Ireland’s Call” now rings around the stadium in Ballsbridge. This is happening! Can Ireland stay in the hunt for the Six Nations title? Realistically, yes, they can.
Textbook stuff from one Ireland fan at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
The teams are on the pitch. The pre-match pyrotechnics have fired. A message condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine appears on the big screen, and gets a huge cheer of support from the crowd. And now for the Italian anthem.
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The Ireland head coach, Andy Farrell, speaks to ITV’s Gabriel Clarke: “We shipped a few points last week [against France on 12 February]. First things first, this is a proper Test match, we expect to be at our best. We know Italy are an ambitious side that want to play a nice brand of rugby ... it’s the old adage of what international rugby’s all about. You’ve got to get your fundamentals right.”
And was it a straightforward decision to keep Carbery in at No 10 and leave Sexton out? “Yeah, because, Joey played well last week [two weeks ago, against France]. He only came into the side on Thursday [that week]. He’s had the opportunity to have a full week under his belt [training] at fly-half and lead the side. We’re expecting big things from him.”
Italy coach Kieran Crowley also has a chat: “It doesn’t matter what they do, you’ve got to get it up front first ... our front eight has to really front against a very, very good Ireland team that plays very good attacking rugby.”
And what of Italy’s future in the Six Nations? “People keep saying we’ve lost 35 games but, you know, the majority of this group have lost three or four ... Some of them are tainted by a few more than that, but we can’t concentrate on that ... This is a young group and we’re trying to build something. I hope if we’re having this conversation in a year’s time, it’s a different conversation.”
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Nika Amashukeli, from Georgia, is today’s referee, and is the first official from outside a Tier-1 country to take charge of a Six Nations match.
Andy Farrell thinks he would have found it “a nightmare” to play against Michael Lowry, whom Ireland’s head coach has selected to make his Test debut against Italy at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday.
Teams
Michael Lowry of Ulster makes his debut for Ireland at full-back. Joey Carbery gets the nod to continue at fly-half, with Johnny Sexton on the bench. James Lowe is back on the wing after injury with Mack Hansen, who is only a couple of matches into his Ireland career, on the other wing. Peter O’Mahony makes his first start of the tournament at No 6.
Ireland: 15-Michael Lowry, 14-Mack Hansen, 13-Garry Ringrose, 12-Robbie Henshaw, 11-James Lowe, 10-Joey Carbery, 9-Jamison Gibson-Park, 1-Andrew Porter, 2-Dan Sheehan, 3-Tadhg Furlong, 4-Tadhg Beirne, 5-Ryan Baird, 6-Peter O’Mahony, 7-Josh van der Flier, 8-Caelan Doris Replacements: 16-Rob Herring, 17-Dave Kilcoyne, 18-Finlay Bealham, 19-Kieran Treadwell, 20-Jack Conan, 21-Craig Casey, 22-Johnny Sexton, 23-James Hume
For Italy, Pierre Bruno of Zebre debuts on the wing, while Juan Ignacio Brex comes into the centres, meaning Marco Zanon drops to the bench.
Italy: 15-Edoardo Padovani, 14-Pierre Bruno, 13-Juan Ignacio Brex, 12-Leonardo Marin, 11-Monty Ioane, 10-Paolo Garbisi, 9-Stephen Varney, 1-Danilo Fischetti, 2-Gianmarco Lucchesi, 3-Pietro Ceccarelli, 4-Niccolo Cannone, 5-Federico Ruzza, 6-Giovanni Pettinelli, 7-Michele Lamaro, 8-Toa Halafihi Replacements: 16-Hame Faiva, 17-Ivan Nemer, 18-Tiziano Pasquali, 19-David Sisi, 20-Manuel Zuliani, 21-Braam Steyn, 22-Alessandro Fusco, 23-Marco Zanon
Referee: Nika Amashukeli
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Preamble
At the big media launch last month, the powers-that-be insisted that Italy’s record in the Six Nations – no victory since 2015 – is not affecting the credibility of the tournament.
But even the most charitable of observers would have to admit that, well, Italy’s record is kind of affecting the credibility the tournament. Many of us would love to see Italy begin to properly compete, to push their opponents for 80 minutes, and perhaps actually win a match. And the vast majority of people seem to be opposed to the idea of South Africa joining the party. The Azzurri did compete well enough in Paris in the first half of their opener, but eventually fell away, and never looked likely to challenge England in Rome in the second match of their campaign.
So, can they create something special against Ireland in Dublin today? Can they at least give Andy Farrell’s men a scare? Can they start to build the continuity in attack and defence that’s required to create a compelling, closely-fought contest? Given the talent at Ireland’s disposal and their recent form (defeat by France notwithstanding), it looks highly unlikely. But the neutrals will hope we see something other than a one-sided stroll for Ireland. Team news, pre-match reading and more coming up.
Kick-off: 3pm
