Irish U21s win Six Nations opener

Italy Under-21s 21 Ireland Under-21s 33

Ireland, last year’s Under-21 World Cup finalists, opened their Six Nations account in Udine today with a well-deserved defeat of Italy.

Mark McDermott’s side, boasting four players from last summer’s final loss to New Zealand, raced into a 30-7 lead after 51 minutes following tries from Mark Kettyle, Northampton flanker Brett McNamee and Ulster centre Andrew Trimble in a composed display.

They were aided by sin-binnings dished out by Welsh official Niel Ballard to Italian backs Matteo Pratichetti and Marco Rosa, as the Irish extended their 16-7 half-time lead.

Newly-appointed captain Gareth Steenson, who claimed the World Cup golden boot, kicked three first-half penalties after the Italian scrum had squeezed a penalty try out of the visitors after four minutes.

Steenson added a fourth try and converted both McNamee and Trimble’s touchdowns but the Azzurri showed some late fight, scoring a brace through fly-half Gregorio Rebecchini and Calvisano lock Valerio Bernabo, who debuted for John Kirwan’s seniors against the US Eagles last November.