Ruthless Ireland savour Italian job
U20S WORLD CUP POOL B
Ireland……………..55pts
Tries: Sheahan 3, L Murphy 13, O’Connell 18, Berman 27, 37, 47, Treacy 55, Naughton 65
Conversions: J Murphy 14, 19, 28, Naughton 48, 56, 63
Penalties: Naughton 82
Italy…………………. 15pts
Tries: Elettri 6, Bellucci 43
Conversions: Pucciariello 7
Penalties: Pucciariello 10
Willie Faloon’s new era in charge of Ireland U20s got off to a dream start as last year’s finalists destroyed Six Nations rivals Italy with an eight-try opening day victory.
Sean Edogbo’s late try settled a 23-22 thriller in Cork between the two sides earlier this year in the Six Nations but yesterday’s Pool B opener was a one-sided affair, the biggest winning margin for Ireland over Italy at U20 level.
Ireland captain Evan O’Connell said: “We’re happy with our game. We spoke a lot in the build up about being clinical in the 22 when we got the chance.
“There’s improvements from the Six Nations; we’ve gone back to basics which is all you have to do alongside taking our chances. Italy put it up to us and I don’t think the scoreline fairly reflects the game. We want to keep getting better and make each training session count.”
Ireland made a dominant start and struck in just the second minute as this year’s Six Nations top try scorer Danny Sheahan profited from quick hands out wide to touch down.
A spirited Italy hit back instantly as a clever kick in behind by Mirko Belloni caused Ireland fly-half Jack Murphy to succumb under serious pressure, forcing him to kick the ball out to his own 5m line.
That allowed Italy to overturn the deficit as electric hands from the backline put Lorenzo Elettri in for a converted score and the Azzuri enhanced their early lead with a Martino Pucciarello penalty.
Ireland No.8 Luke Murphy had earlier saved a try before Pucciarello’s three-pointer with a vital interception of Italy’s basketball-style offloads and the Shannon man moments later illustrated his power with a bulldozing try.
Faloon’s side were finding their straps with clever attacking pod systems. Italy’s desperate defence momentarily kept them at bay, dragging them into touch but that was only a minor reprieve as captain O’Connell pounced on a messy lineout.
Ireland’s red zone efficiency was devastating and the brilliant Sam Berman darted through a gap to make it four tries from four visits inside 26 minutes which sealed an all-important bonus point in the process.
Berman sealed his brace with another excellent line on the stroke of half-time after a mesmerising offload by second row Alan Spicer.
Ireland’s purple patch was brought to an end at the beginning of the second half as Edogbo was yellow carded for a high tackle. Italy utilised their numerical advantage as Luca Bellucci went over from close-range.
However, clinical Ireland were physical, direct and almost impossible to stop.
Berman completed his hat-trick by being the next to cross, while it was Italy’s turn to go down to 14 men as Bellucci was sent to the sin bin for repeated infringements, just minutes after his try.
It was then outside centre Finn Treacy’s turn to join in the try scoring as he finished out wide.
Jacob Boyd was sin binned for a cynical foul inside his 22 but Sean Naughton rounded off an emphatic victory with a try and a late penalty.
Italy captain Jacopo Botturi said: “It was a hard game; they are strong and really test you in key areas.
“We have to work to improve our game. We didn’t hit our straps in defence which is why we lost so heavily.
“We lost a lot of ball and need to work on our handling.”
MATCH STATS…
IRE v ITA
11 Penalties conceded 10
18 Lineouts won 11
0 Lineouts lost 3
3 Scrums won 4
0 Scrums lost 5
2 Sin bin 1
TEAMS
IRELAND: O’Connor 7, Colbert 7 (Calvey 57, 6), Treacy 8, Berman 9 (Gavin 52, 7), McLaughlin 7, J Murphy 6 (Naughton 41, 7), Coffey 7 (O’Riordan 55, 6); Boyd 6 (Colbert 67, 6), Sheahan 8, Bell 7 (Sparrow 55, 6), Spicer 7 (Corrigan 57, 6), O’Connell (c) 6 (Smyth 62, 6), Edogbo 6, Ward 6 (McKillop 52, 6), L Murphy 8
ITALY: Belloni 7, Scalabrin 6, Zanandrea 6, Bozzo 6 (De Villiers 55, 5), Elettri 7, Pucciariello 7 (Brisighella 44, 5), Jimenez 7 (Casilio 52, 5); Pelliccioli 7 (Gentile 67, 5), Gasperini 5 (Siciliano 52, 4), Ascari 5 (Pisani 48, 4), Midena 5 (Redondi 21-33, 5), Milano 6, Zucconi 5 (Redondi 48, 5), Bellucci 7 (Casartrelli 57, 5), Botturi (c) 6
REFEREE: Saba Abulashvili
ATTENDANCE: 3,248
Star man: Sam Berman – Ireland
