Active Irish possession largest enjoyed by any team: The statistical breakdown

Seven tries scored, one conceded. A convincing Ireland win over an Italian side who are better than their Six Nations record this season suggest.

From the off it was apparent Ireland would not be kicking the cover off the ball as they had done in their previous home match against Wales.

The opening passages of play had been instructive; from the visitors’ kick off no Italian had active possession of the ball before Jonathan Sexton scored Ireland’s first try on six minutes. Ireland kicked in play just 19 times against Italy, having averaged 28 per game through their first three matches.

With Ireland shunning the boot and referee Nigel Owens keen to promote a free-flowing game, the home side ended up with a colossal 26 minutes and 45 seconds of active possession. This was by far the largest time of possession enjoyed by any team in the 2013 or 2014 Six Nations, almost a full four minutes longer than Wales had against Ireland in their opening match of the 2013 championship (22 minutes 57 seconds).

As important as possession is, it’s vital to know where on the field that possession was. Ireland had over twice as much ball in the Italian half as in their own, with most possession of all in the Italian 22: the red zone. Ireland won 72 rucks and mauls in the Italian 22; Italy won just five.

It’s relatively uncommon to see a player register a tackle count in the 20s but on Saturday it was done by no fewer than four Italians. That was very much needed as ten Irishmen made at least ten carries, including Rhys Ruddock in just 27 minutes after he was sprung from the bench. Even fly half Luciano Orquera, not widely known for his defensive prowess, reached double digits including an early rattler on Gordon D’Arcy. All that tackling added up, with the total being an extraordinary 245 tackles made by Italy. Ireland’s discipline has been excellent in this year’s Six Nations. Already leading the pack with an average of just nine penalties conceded per match, Ireland gave up just two on Saturday. With two teams intent on playing running rugby the perfect referee was on the scene in Owens. The Welsh official likes to see players using the ball when available, particularly from the base of the scrum, instead of playing for penalties. Jaco Peyper awarded 31 penalties at the Stade de France when France hosted Italy in round 2. Owens has awarded just 25 penalties across his two games in the tournament.

Ireland’s set piece was again good against Italy and the forward pack will look ahead to Paris with confidence. The Irish scrum and lineout have both been purring along at an excellent 93% success rate. Going into their match against Scotland France had won just 73% of scrums on their own ball; in Murrayfield they were worse, coughing up two from four. If Ireland can maintain that good discipline and solid forward platform a famous win in Paris could await them.

— All stats courtesy of OPTA