Ireland survive Italy scare to get Six Nations campaign up and running
DOUBLE TEAM: Italy's Paolo Odogwu is tackled by Ireland's Edwin Edogbo and Tadhg Beirne. Pic: INPHO/Ben Brady
Ireland claimed their first victory of the 2026 Guinness Six Nations at Aviva Stadium on Saturday afternoon but it was a less than emphatic rebound from their opening-round hammering by France.
A win is a win and this one represented a step forward in terms of championship points but this was not a fluid performance to unduly give next Saturday’s opponents and hosts England any trepidation.
Indeed, Italy’s scrum enjoyed a dominant afternoon while their attacking instincts consistently caused Ireland problems, right to the 80th minute.
On a day when Scotland’s Hollie Davidson became the first female to referee a Six Nations match, Ireland had looked in danger of making some less notable history as Italy looked for their first Six Nations victory in Dublin, leading 10-5 at half-time.
Hooker Giacomo Nicotera’s 33rd minute try had cancelled out Jamie Osborne’s opener in the first quarter with Paolo Garbisi kicking a conversion and penalty and it could have been more after a stunning counter-attack from Lorenzo Pani was stymied by a dropped pass.
Yet Ireland steadied the ship to get back to winning ways, second-half tries from Jack Conan and Six Nations debutant wing and man of the match Robert Baloucoune in addition to replacement Jack Crowley’s conversion and penalty doing just enough to see Andy Farrell’s men home to a less than convincing victory against a talented Italian side who had beaten Scotland in the opening round but had to settle for a losing bonus point in Dublin as their wait for a first win on Irish soil since their non-championship victory here in 1997.
For a home crowd expecting a reaction from the horrors of the first 50 minutes at Stade de France nine days earlier there was little comfort from the opening half against the Italians. The French had put on 22 points by the interval in Paris and were 29-0 up by the 46th minute and while the scoreline was not nearly so disastrous in Dublin, there were enough signs from Ireland’s performance to suggest Farrell’s new-look side were struggling.
They had taken the lead on 17 minutes thanks to a well-worked try scored by full-back Jamie Osborne who struck off a neat carry and offload from centre Stuart McCloskey, yet that came against 14 men, following Italy wing Louis Lynagh’s deliberate knock-on six minutes earlier. Sam Prendergast missed the straightforward conversion close to the posts and when his side failed to deal adequately with the restart kick, the fly-half was forced to clear his lines and concede a lineout. Error was compounded by further error with Cormac Izuchukwu conceded a penalty with a push in the air at the set-piece and Paolo Garbisi kicked the penalty to see out the 10-minute sin-binning with minimal damage to Gonzalo Quesada’s visitors.
Ireland were looking directionless in attack and Italy were happy to absorb pressure with a high line and counter from the inevitable kick ahead that came when the home side had exhausted other avenues. Azzurri full-back Lorenzo Pani gave Ireland a scare with one such foray, collecting his own chip ahead and advancing to the home 22, only for captain Michele Lamaro to spill his offload. It was a let-off but when Craig Casey, in at scrum-half for Jamison Gibson-Park, soaked a tackle on No.8 Lorenzo Cannone, the head contact was deemed to be the Irishman’s fault and he was issued with a yellow card as he received treatment for a bloody nose from referee Davidson.
Italy wasted no time converting their one-man advantage into points by kicking the penalty to the corner and scoring from the resulting lineout striking off the driving maul with Garbisi’s conversion opening a 10-5 lead they took into the halftime break.
Ireland were in need of a reset, not least at the scrum. The Irish set-piece had been one of the few high points in Ireland’s performance against France but it was no match for Italian scrummaging. The final scrum of the half, with Garry Ringrose putting in the ball in the absence of Casey saw Italy drive Ireland off the ball for a penalty from which the Irish pack did well to repel another strong lineout drive to end the half but the warnings were there for all in this sell-out crowd to see.
Farrell wasted no time attempting to address the issue, sending on Tadhg Furlong at tighthead prop for Thomas Clarkson at the start of the second half while one would imagine giving the rest of his team a dressing-room roasting because Ireland started the second half strongly.
No.8 Jack Conan levelled the score inside three minutes of the restart, though Prendergast again missed the conversion, this time from closer to the touchline than the posts.
There was another let-off for Ireland as the Italians poured forward in search of reply, centre Tommaso Menoncello feeding the ball to right wing Lynagh who raced home to score only for TMO Iain Tempest to identify a clear forward pass to scratch off the try.
Farrell made further changes to ignite his side immediately after his side’s escape, withdrawing Casey, lock Joe McCarthy and hooker Dan Sheehan and throwing on Gibson-Park, Tadhg Beirne and Ronan Kelleher with 28 minutes remaining. Jack Crowley followed them on shortly after, not to dovetail with Prendergast but to replace the starting fly-half, a decision met with a big cheer by Irish supporters as their team went in search of further scores.
Baloucoune’s try came a minute later in the 57th, a strong finish off his wing after taking a good pass from Ulster team-mate McCloskey. Crowley kicked the conversion, adding a penalty in the 62nd to stretch Ireland’s lead to 20-10, though Garbisi replied in kind to keep Italy in the hunt in the final quarter.
Both sides had emptied their benches heading into the last 10 minutes, 23-year-old Munster lock Edwin Edogbo doing Cobh Pirates proud as the last player to enter the fray with 10 to go.
Italy spent the majority of those closing minutes in the ascendancy before Ireland relieved the siege without further concessions. Yet this will not be a victory to cherish and major improvements are still needed ahead of their trip to Twickenham in seven days.
: J Osborne; R Baloucoune, G Ringrose, S McCloskey, J Lowe; S Prendergast (J Crowley, 56), C Casey (J Gibson-Park, 52); J Loughman (T O’Toole, 66), D Sheehan (R Kelleher, 52), T Clarkson (T Furlong, h-t); J McCarthy (T Beirne, 52), J Ryan (E Edogbo, 70); C Izuchukwu (N Timoney, 57), C Doris – captain, J Conan.
Yellow card: C Casey 32-42
: L Pani; L Lynagh, T Menoncello, L Marin (P Odogwu, 66), M Ioane; P Garbisi, A Fusco (A Garbisi, 62); D Fischetti (M Spagnolo, 57), G Nictoera (T Di Bartolomeo, 57), S Ferrari (M Hasa, 57); N Cannone (R Favretto, 66), A Zambonin (F Ruzza, 60); M Lamaro – captain, M Zuliani, L Cannone (D Odiase, 66).
Yellow card: L Lynagh 11-21
: Hollie Davidson (Scotland).
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