Victory at a price

IRELAND were as unpredictable as a Roman taxi driver at the Stadio Flaminio yesterday, but in the end they just about survived.

They mixed the excellent with the decidedly moderate, and coach Eddie O'Sullivan readily admitted they were more than happy to have this potential banana skin out of the way. "If the result had gone to the other way, we could not have complained," he admitted.

The brilliance of captain, Brian O'Driscoll, and at least three big refereeing decisions were crucial to a result that pays scant credit to the splendid efforts of the Azzurri. They scarcely deserved to lose by a margin of eleven points. On this display, they are no whipping boys, and will trouble a lot of teams as the campaign goes on, especially in Rome. They were terrific for most of the first half and refused to be daunted when the tide turned against them after Ireland were awarded a couple of debated tries.

"I told my players after the game that Ireland had played well and we were able to stay with them," glowed the Italian coach John Kirwan. They have experience and class in the right positions and can do very well this season."

And in spite of the many shortcomings exposed yesterday, that may well come to pass as the side improves with each game. However, Eddie O'Sullivan has serious problems, not least with his world-class centres, Gordon D'Arcy and Brian O'Driscoll, leaving the field with hamstring injuries. D'Arcy is the bigger worry with O'Sullivan all but ruling him out of the Scottish game on Saturday.

Ireland's early problems had much to do with an off colour contribution from Ronan O'Gara. Nothing seemed to work he couldn't find the safety of the touchline (except when he pulled a 22 metre restart into the stand) so it was hardly surprising that a loud, raucous roar should ring around the ground when he finally found the target on twenty minutes.

In fairness, it was his beautifully floated passes that created Ireland's most meaningful attacks. He looked a lot happier when launching his backs rather kicking the new style Mitre ball with which he clearly hasn't fully familiarised himself. The stats were cruel on the out-half for he was "credited" with 12 errors, 9 ahead of Geordan Murphy.

"I am pleased to get out of here with a result because you must credit Italy with a great performance," said O'Sullivan. "They dominated possession in the first half and it was very important that we got into their half on three occasions and scored twice. We got more of the football in the second and played for field position but it still took us seventy minutes before we were able to wear Italy down. The difference was that we were able to use the outside channels. When you get the ball into those channels, things begin to happen."

He was, of course, referring to O'Driscoll who was superb in defence and attack. And when Paul O'Connell, especially, Malcolm O'Kelly and Simon Easterby got round to ruling the line-out, Ireland suddenly looked good. The backs were as good as everybody had hoped and when O'Driscoll was afforded the space, one immediately sensed he had the measure of his markers. It was his speed and strength that paved the way for Geordan Murphy's 29th minute try although neither Paddy O'Brien nor his touch judge Roy Maybank was sure if the full-back had made a fair touchdown. He dived short of the line, didn't quite reach the target and might well have been turned on his back as he turned to score.

"Full credit to their winger, he did his best to turn me but I was confident of getting the decision, that was a fair touch down", insisted Murphy.

The video ref, Dave Pearson of England, duly ruled in Murphy's favour, even if the gloss was dulled somewhat by the simultaneous departure of D'Arcy. Shane Horgan moved into the centre only to knock on straight in front of the Azzurri posts with the defence once again stretched. A second penalty, this time by full-back Roland de Marigny narrowed the gap to two points, but whether the Irish performance merited any sort of a half time advantage is a moot point.

After de Marigny edged Italy 9-8 ahead with an early penalty, O'Driscoll's class again opened the Italian door with a scything break, Denis Hickie carried the move on and when Horgan was cornered he flung an overhead pass which was gobbled up by Stringer who galloped over for his fifth international try. Television replays, however, suggested that Horgan might well have been out of play when he released the ball.

That was nothing to the disappointment the Italians felt when Murphy and Hickie allowed a harmless looking box kick by Alessandron Troncon into the hands of winger Ludovico Nitoglia who dived over the line only to lose the ball with O'Brien again asking for video confirmation before ruling against the home side. By now, Italy had reassumed something of the mastery they had enjoyed earlier in the game but nothing seemed to go right for them. All the time, O'Driscoll led by example, proving that he is just as good a defender as an attacker and that's saying something.

The game was petering out in Ireland's favour when Denis Hickie ran in a third Irish try but no-one could begrudge Italy their try in the very last minute.

If anything, they deserved more.