Italy 11 – 13 Ireland – What a Performance!

It wouldn’t be the first time a team has come unstuck in Rome, and it wouldn’t be the first time Ireland have stuttered to gel on the first game of the Six Nations – but that performance was more of a concern than we’ve seen in a long time!

O’Gara dragged Ireland from the jaws of defeat with a late drop goal having been on the pitch just a few minutes, and O’Driscoll was under no illusion about what just happened:

“It was very, very close today and we were fortunate, to a degree, to come out of it. Of course, when you’re down with four minutes left, you think there’s a chance you might lose the game,”

“But we felt we were creating a huge number of opportunities. But we lacked the clinical edge to finish them off, and that was the frustrating thing. We created a lot of opportunities but by bad passing and bad handling, we let Italy off the hook.

“The fact was, we should not have been in that situation with four minutes to go. We had a lot more scoring chances than them but there were unforced errors throughout.

“It is definitely a game we will have to have a good hard look at but if it’s down to individual responsibility, in a sense that is the easy thing. It might not be a thing of beauty (watching the video) next week but you have to look after the ball much better than we did.”

The one saving grace was the distinct lack of new injuries to an already battered squad, Heaslip is a possible for France but Ferris and Trimble are very doubtful at the moment.

It all started when Luke McLean put Italy ahead with a wide try, but crucially (as we were later to find out) Mirco Bergamasco failed to convert leaving Ireland needing a penalty or drop goal to win. In scenes similar to that of Cardiff two years ago O’Gara sat in the pocket and delivered, as he has done time and time again for Ireland….

A sigh of relief was audible from across Ireland!

Tags: 6N 2011, McLean, ODriscoll, OGara, v Italy
February 6th, 2011 | Posted in Six Nations | 2 Comments »