Key events
52 min: NO TRY! Forward pass is the call. That’s a shame as it was sublime from Menconcello who showed the ball before changing direction and exploding through midfield. He just needed to find Lynagh on the right wing. Well, he also needed to keep his pass legal, which he couldn’t. He shakes his head but it’s the right call. Scrum to Ireland on their 22. A raft of changes as well. Gibson-park among others on the pitch.
52 min: Stunning from the Italians! World class from Menoncello who burst through midifield and then unfurled a delicious pass for the flying Lynagh! But was it forward. It certainly drifts forward, but were his hands moving backwards? This will cause controversy either way. We await the decision…
52 min: Italy are slick. Italy are cohesive. But Italy dilly dally at the back of a ruck inside Ireland’s 22 and Doris, after consulting with the referee, stoops low to pinch the ball. The clearing kick goes over halfway but the Italians regroup and launch a counter,.
49 min: Pani is bundled out of touch about a metre short in the left corner! Lovely work from the Italians. Zulani bust through about three tacklers and kept going even after losing his feet. Then they went left where Ione joined the line. He found Menoncello who then quickly passed for Pani. The fullback cantered and almost had the legs, but was cut down by the cover tackle of Osborne. Italy have it back though and here they come again inside Ireland’s 22.
47 min: Ireland pinch the Italian line-out. Izuchukwu challenges at the front and disrupts the ball. Ireland then clear to halfway. The scrum might be creaking but the line-out has come good this half, so far, for Ireland.
46 min: A third scrum penalty in a row for Italy. My goodness, they are taking the Irish pack to the cleaners. So, with the advantage, they try a swift move down the right. Fusco wraps around and almost stitches things together, but the return pass is a little too far in front of him so he spills it. No matter, Garbisi hoofs it into Ireland’s 22 and finds good ground for a line-out.
45 min: Italy have a line-out on halfway. This time Ireland to compete and turn the ball into a scrappy thing out the back. Italy can’t get their move going but will get the scrum feed bang on the halfway mark as Prendergast, rushing up, knocked on as he made the tackle.
TRY! Ireland 10-10 Italy (Conan, 43)
Ireland rumble over and the gamble pays off! An easy three points was turned down but they come up with the goods. Loughman, from the line-out, had two carries. They kept it close until Conan spotted the gap and forced his way through the Italian defenders.
Prendergast, for the second time this afternoon, misses a simple conversion. That’s four simple points he’s left out there. Will it cost them?
41 min: Ireland win back their own kick-off and mount an attack on Italy’s 22. Prendergast floats one out to Lowe who does well, yet again, to find metres post contact. Ireland keep the ball as they go from right to left and win a penalty. It’s bang in front on the 22 but Prendergast turns down the easy three and kicks to the corner. Ireland rolling the dice.
The players are out. Phew, I honestly don’t know which way this is going to go. Taidgh Furlong is on to help solidify the scrum.
Do you have strong thoughts on Casey’s card?
J P Murphy certainly does:
50 years watching rugby union and I’m done. If Casey deserves a yellow card for getting butted in the face, that’s it, I’m done. It’s the final straw. The game is now unwatchable.
Not sure I agree. I’m really enjoying watching this game. Hopefully you change your mind JP. You might miss a cracking second half as Ireland have a big job on their hands.
Italy have never led Ireland at half-time!
Well, they have now. And to be honest, they could have added two more tries. Then again, Ireland twice coughed the ball up inside Italy’s red zone. So perhaps it evens out.
Either way, Italy fully deserve their lead.
Half-time: Ireland 5-10 Italy
Brilliance from McCloskey on defence brings the half to an end. Zambinon – again – won the line-out but they couldn’t get the rumble on at the maul. So the ball went into midfield where Marin charged forward. McCloskey met him well and held him up, forcing the turnover.
That was that for the opening 40 though a few players still found the energy to push and shove each other.
Italy head into the sheds in front. Staggering stuff but fully deserved.
40+2 min: Correction! Garbisi doesn’t go for the three. He kicks to the corner. Italy are going to try and shove over for another try at the end of the first half.
40 min: My goodness! Italy get the shove on at the scrum and win a penalty! That’s two scrums in a row. They are consuming the Irish pack. Garbisi will have a chance to add three more to the tally before the half ends.
40 min: Prendergast has the ball inside his own goal area as an Italian kick bobbles a little too long. The Italians are back on the ball following Prendergast’s kick but they can’t keep it for long. Another knock on in contact. Lynagh that time. The half is ending on a messy note. Scrum to Ireland inside their own half. I reckon Ringrose – slotting in at 9 – will just get the ball off the park once it emerges out the other side.
39 min: Italy win another line-out inside Irish territory. It becomes a bit scrappy but Ioane gathers the loose ball and carries back into the maw. Italy do eventually lose it and Prendergast delays a pass and finds McCarthy with a lovely ball. They’re a long way back in their own patch but can they work this upfield? Instead they choose to kick. Another poor hoof from Prendergast and it’s an easy gather for Italy.
38 min: Some good news for Ireland. Casey’s yellow card will not be upgraded. He was going backwards as he met the ball carrier Cannone. But Casey’s nose appears to be broken.
35 min: Now then. What can Ireland do? Well, they have a scrum to defend inside Italy’s half. It doesn’t go their way. In fact, they give away a penalty. Rather, Italy win the penalty. Their pack is well on top here and there’s a bit of afters once Davidson awards the Italian pen. Big celebrations from the men in blue. They are pumped!
TRY! Ireland 5-10 Italy (Nicotera, 32)
Italy lead in Dublin! Zambonin wins the line out and after stalling, but being held up, he receives help from the backs who pile into the maul. Nicotera soon as it over the line. Brilliant from the Italians. Garbisi slots the extras. We’ve got a proper game here!
Yellow card for Ireland! Casey, 32
A bloodied Casey is shown yellow! An illegal tackle, upright on the ball carrier. Meets the yellow card threshold and they’ll take a look if it needs an upgrade. Don’t think it will, but it means Italy have the chance to kick for touch and set up a line-out five out.
32 min: Zambonin wins the line-out inside Ireland’s 22. Menoncello then receives a flat pass and charges through the Irish midfield before he’s hauled down. The ball is fired left where Nicotera makes some ground. But yet again Italy hand possession back after Ferrari inexplicably spills it before taking contact. Ioane gathers the long clearing kick and challenges the Irish defence from deep. Pani tries to find space with a kick but it comes to nothing.
30 min: Lynagh is back and mops up a loose ball after Ringrose made a real nuisance of himself as he attacked a lovely spiralling kick into Italian territory. He got a hand on it but couldn’t gather so Lynagh countered. Pani came off second best there but Italy have the penalty after Ireland lose their feet at a ruck following a charge down from a Garbisi kick. A little scrappy from both sides.
Credit to Italy here. They absolutely look the equals of their hosts.
28 min: After an age the scrum unfolds and Ireland kick long. Pani counters – not for the first time – and Italy go through the phases. They’ve made good ground and are now back in Irish territory. Both Cannone brothers with stiff carries. Double digit phases until Fusco attempts a little kick off the back of the ruck which is aimless and simply hands possession back to Ireland.
24 min: Lowe is having a good game. At second receiver he rakes a long kick. He receives the return kick and then holds off two Italian tacklers before putting his head down and welcoming contact as he drives with his legs.
But Italy come roaring back. And almost score! A poor kick from Prendergast is collected by Pani who counters. The fullback chips and chases and grabs the bouncing ball. From his knees he tries to offload for the onrushing support but the pass is low and spilled by Lamaro, who had to stoop to reach it.
A shame. If that came off Italy would have scored. Instead it’s an Irish scrum on their 22.
22 min: Ireland looking neat on the ball again. Prendergast finds Doris prowling the right wing after McCarthy bulldozes over the gainline. But they spill it. Again. Farrell msut be fuming. Just as they started climbing through the gears progress is halted. Italy with the scrum inside their own half, between halfway and the 22 just to the left of their poles. Ireland engage early so it’s a free-kick that Garbisi hoists high and long.
Penalty! Ireland 5-3 Italy (Garbisi, 21)
The Italian slots the pen! Just after conceding a try, the visitors are on the board with a neat kick to the left of the poles as Garbisi was looking at them.
19 min: Italy’s restart is deep and they put pressure on the ball. Prendergast hoofs the clearance kick and finds touch inside his own patch. What can Italy do from this line-out just beyond Ireland’s 22? Well, they now have a penalty as Izuchukwu commits a foul against the jumper in the air. He’s gone for the ball but missed it. It’s not malicious, but it is a penalty. Garbisi will take aim at the sticks to reduce the deficit.
TRY! Ireland 5-0 Italy (Osborne, 17)
There it is! Great interplay from Ireland and Osborne joins the line and finishes the move. The final pass from Ringrose, after riding contact and offloading, was class. Continuity was the name of the game and the Irish eventually found a crack in the Italian wall.
From right in front Prendergast misses the conversion. That’s a howler.
17 min: Ireland finding a groove now. Lowe has it again on the left wing. Prendergast is growing in confidence as he’s zipping passes around. McCloskey straightens and finds ground. Matter of time here…
15 min: A brilliant turnover froom Italy in their own red zone. Fischetti I think. It came off a lovely break from Ireland off the scrum as they cantered upfield around 40 metres. This time the wraparound move does come off and with one Italian back in the sin bin they make use of the extra space. Baloucoune shoed great speed as he joined the line and off-loaded for Lowe. Lowe then made metres after contact and found Ringrose in support. But with only Prendergast available to clean the ruck five metres short, the Italians put in a counter shove and stole the ball back. The clearing kick finds touch beyond the 22 but Ireland will come back at them off the line-out.
13 min: Ireland make a mess of their possession. They’ve tried to run this little loop move around the back – not quite Sexton, but not far off – but it’s not worked. The final pass finds nothing but air and Italy pounce on it. They then move the ball quickly to Ioane on the left wing but they run out of room and eventually spill the ball themselves. So we’ll have an Irish scrum on their right wing.
A bit scrappy from the hosts, I’ve got to say. They’re lacking both punch over the gainline and sharpness with their interplay.
Yellow card for Italy! Lynagh, 11
No doubt about it. Lynagh was never going to catch that floating pass. And with Lowe in space behind him on Ireland’s right wing, and with a clear line break on the cards, the Italian winger has to go.
11 min: Another penalty against Italy. Lynagh pinned for a deliberate knock-on as he tried to gather an intercept on the left wing. I think he might be in trouble as Lowe was free and waiting behind him. Lynagh was never in a position to grab it and flung out a hopeful hand.
10 min: Italy win the line-out and set up a high spiralling kick from Garbisi in the pocket. Osborne does brilliantly to field under pressure from Ioane so Ireland have it back. Baloucoune shows some nifty feet. Ireland kick so Italy have it now. Garbisi looks for a cross kick and finds Lynagh who juggled but gathered. Menoncello kicks ahead from the tram but he overcooks the grubber and it bobbles over the dead ball line. Good from Italy. They’ve demonstrated skill and power so far.
8 min: There’s a scuffle following Italian players celebrating a penalty five metes from their own line. From the tap and go, Sheehan tried to dive over the tackler but is called for leaping into contact. Can’t do that and that’s pretty sloppy from Ireland. They were within striking distance but must now defend a line-out close to halfway.
7 min: Ireland move it sharp off the top of the line-out. They go right, win a penalty advantage and then go left with a floating pass for Lowe. He gathers after the bounce and charges forward. Ireland showing good continuity but Italy holding firm. The wall doesn’t break but they come back for the penalty. Ireland lacking that punch over the gainline. Still, they choose to tap and go from five metres out.
6 min: First scrum of the match. Needs a reset. Italy will back themselves in this set piece. But they collapse right under Davidson’s nose and she calls Fischetti and awards Ireland a penalty. Prendergast hoofs it out inside Italy’s 22 to set up a line-out.
4 min: Italy attack down the line after getting the ball back from a Baloucoune break down the right. A midfield turnover meant Ireland couldn’t stitch the move together but they have a line-out on the left around halfway. Sheehan makes good ground after contact. Fusco, Italy’s scrum-half, almost grabs an intercept from a skip pass intended for Lowe on the left wing. He knocks on though so Ireland get a scrum. If that was caught clean I think the Fusco would have had a clear canter to the try line.
2 min: A bit of kick tennis early doors. Ireland then Italy. Ireland have it back with Osborne wriggling upfield from fullback. Then they keep it tight.
Hollie Davidson blows here whistle. We’re off! Italy kick off from left to right on my screen.
Anthems are done. Hands shaken. Nerves jangling. Tensions high. We’re all set to go.
The players are heading out the tunnel. Not long to go now. The Aviva looks fantastic!
The Opta supercomputer has crunched the numbers and chucked out a predicted result.
Drumroll please….
Ireland 35-18 Italy
Phew, seems steep to me, but then I’m not a supercomputer.
According to the mechanical boffin, Ireland have a 84.6% chance of winning.
Jeremy Boyce has written in:
Hi Daniel.
I am REALLY looking forward to this match. I’ve been “with” Italy ever since they made it a 6 Nations but obviously reasons to be cheerful have been thin on the ground. Until now. Sergio Parisse was world class and was surely only a question of time before other high class Italians emerged.
Yes, the stats say that Ireland are 5 – 0 from their last meetings. But in the spirit of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, does that make it more likely or less likely that they will win again this time ? Is it more likely than ever that Italy will break the sequence ? Or that Ireland will continue it ? Or is it always 50 – 50, 23 v 23 on the day ?
As my 3rd year (I was 13) Maths teacher explained to us when we moved on to Statistics, “You can prove anything you like with statistics.” Maths wasn’t my strong subject, but that message stuck.
I’ll be hoping to sink a Prosecco Black Velvet at 80 minutes.
Ciao !
It’s been 13 years since Italy last beat Ireland.
After the shock 22-15 reverse in Rome in 2013, Ireland slipped to 9th in the world rankings and Brian O’Driscoll was cited for a stamp to an Italian’s chest.
Andy Farrell is waxing lyrical about the Azzuri, calling them “the best Italian side he’s faced”.
Meanwhile, Gonzaloi Quesada is expecting an “Irish backlash. France made Ireland look less than they are. We must do everything to make sure they don’t look that good today.”
Just seen a stat from Russ Petty concerning the expereince of the two teams.
In terms of caps, Ireland’s starting XV have an average of 30.
Italy’s is 37.
History made today
For the first time ever, a Six Nations match will be officiated by a woman.
It’s taken a long time but we’ve finally got here and it’s the remarkable Holly Davidson who will don the whistle and forge a new path for the sport.
She sat down with Don McRae for a wide ranging chat about the game, her journey and what she’s expecting this afternoon.
Perhaps a more telling stat is the last five meetings between the two teams.
Ireland have all of them. The last time they played here they ran out 36-0 winners. The time before that it was 33-7. The time before that was 57-6.
However, the Italians ran them close last season and were it not for a Dan Sheehan hat-trick, they might have lost.
I just had a quick glance at the last five games for both teams and it’s perhaps no surprise to learn that Italy are the form outfit of the two.
Ireland have lost to France, South Africa and New Zealand with wins over Australia and Japan.
Meanwhile, Italy have beaten Australia, Chile and Scotland. Their only two defeats have come against the all conquering Boks.
Does that teach us anything about today’s game? Not really. Unless of course it totally does and we should all expect an Italian romp.
Italy team
Se non è rotto, non aggiustarlo
That’s, if it aint broke, don’t fix, at least according to Google translate.
Just the one change to the side that did the business against Scotland. Ignacio Brex, one half of that world class midfield pair I was talking about before, is out for personal reasons.
That means 23-year-old Leonardo Marin, all 1.88 metres of him, slots in at 12. There’s still no Ange Capuozzo – ditto for a bunch of star players like Tommaso Allan, Sebastian Negri, Ross Vintcent, Gianmarco Lucchesi, Martin Page-Relo, Stephen Varney and Jacopo Trulla. But there’s plenty of firepower on the wings.
Quick tangent, I’m just such a fan of Monty Ione. Hope he goes well today. Oh, keep an eye out for English born Paolo Odogwu off the bench. And if you have time, check his Instagram account where he shows off creative side.
Italy: Pani; Lynagh, Marin, Menoncello, Ioane; P Garbisi, Fusco; Fischetti, Nicotera, Ferrari; N Cannone, Zambonin; Lamaro (c), Zuliani, L Cannone
Replacements: Di Bartolomeo, Spagnolo, Hasa, Ruzza, Favretto, Odiase, A Garbisi, Odogwu
Ireland team
Sam Prendergast keeps the 10 jersey despite some rumblings around his performance in Paris.
James Low returns to the wing as Jamison Gibson-Park drops to the bench.
Munster lock Edwin Edogbo is poised to earn his Ireland debut off the bench, while Tadhg Furlong is also among the replacements after returning to training this week.
Ireland: Osborne; Baloucoune, Ringrose, McCloskey, Lowe; S Prendergast, Casey; Loughman, Sheehan, Clarkson; McCarthy, Ryan; Izuchukwu, Doris (c), Conan.
Replacements: Kelleher, O’Toole, Furlong, Edogbo, Beirne, Timoney, Gibson-Park, Crowley
Preamble
Daniel Gallan
It wasn’t too long ago that this would have been a doddle.
Ruthless, clinical Ireland at fortress Dublin. Scrappy but sloppy Italy on the round. We’d be wondering about margins of victory, not contemplating the outcome after 80 minutes.
But the past is a foreign country and a lot can change in a short amount of time.
Now it is Italy who arrive on the emerald isle with the wind in their sails. A valiant show in a monsoon saw them edge Scotland 18-15 last week. They have arguably the best midfield pair in the world, slick half-backs, dazzlers out wide and a pack that matches the steel of their coach, Gonzalo Quesada.
As for Ireland, they are facing something close to an existential crisis after taking a battering in Paris. There are questions around the age of the squad, the capabilities of their young fly-halves, and whether or not Andy Farrell’s sojourn with the Lions has stifled Ireland’s progress.
Look, they still should win. But it’s not a forgone conclusion. I predict a proper ding-dong. This would rank among Italy’s greatest ever scalps and one of the darkest days in Ireland’s modern history.
It’s a tall order, but don’t be shocked if it happens.
Kick-off at 14:10 in Dublin. Teams and other updates to come til then.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2026/feb/14/ireland-v-italy-six-nations-rugby-union-live
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