Ireland U20s scrape home against Italy

Italy U20 26 Ireland U20 27: The Ireland U20s withstood a powerful challenge from Italy in Prato last night, before securing their second consecutive one-point victory in this year’s Six Nations Championship.

Ireland had broken the deadlock in the Tuscany venue with a 15th-minute Johnny McPhillips penalty, and although Italy levelled matters with a successful Antonio Rizzi three-pointer, another place-kick courtesy of Ulster’s McPhillips helped the visitors to establish a 6-3 interval advantage. It looked like they were ready to push on when Jordan Larmour grounded on the right-wing after the resumption, but Rizzi penalties, either side of a Massimo Ceciliani try, edged Italy into the ascendancy.

Larmour touched down for his second try 12 minutes from time, but a resilient Italy fired back with a similar effort from Marco Zanon. However, a wayward Rizzi conversion attempt meant that the home team were trailing by the bare minimum, and even though a Tommy O’Brien try was cancelled out by Italian replacement Alberto Rollero, Ireland ultimately triumphed.