Flannery ‘100% certain’ try was good

THE rugby world may look on sceptically, but Jerry Flannery and Tommy Bowe, the players credited with Ireland’s tries against Italy, insist English referee David Pearson got it right on both occasions.

A broader consensus, however, believes that Flannery lost possession before touching down in the 23rd minute and that Bowe never grounded the ball because of a superb smother tackle by Azzurri flanker Maruo Bergamasco after 47 minutes.

It was an interesting afternoon for the two Irishmen in other respects. Flannery, understandably nervous on his first Six Nations start, miscued his first couple of line-out throws, while Bowe overran Geordan Murphy when a sublime 30-yard, cut-out pass by