Italy 5 Ireland 26
Ireland wrapped up their first victory in this year’s women’s 6 Nations with a clinical four-try performance in Rovigo.
Ireland led 8-5 at the break after a tough opening half where Italy pressured them into mistakes, but three second-half tries were enough to secure a confident victory.
In the opening half hour, the home team put serious pressure on the Irish attack, and though Ireland had plenty of possession, unforced errors meant they couldn’t turn the pressure into points.
In fact it was Italy who took the lead when patient build-up helped lock Flavia Severin over the line.
The missed conversion meant that the home team took a 5-0 lead after that dogged first half hour.
But the score seemed to be just what Ireland needed to make their mark in the match. First impressive fullback Niamh Briggs kicked a penalty to bring Ireland within three, and then a superb try from the debutant winger Niamh Kavanagh – who had to dash 40 yards and beat a number of defenders on her way to the line - meant the Irish went into the break in the lead.
Ireland’s dominance continued once the second half got underway with an immediate penalty from Briggs stretching their lead. Another of Ireland’s new faces ,Ger Rae was also having a very useful day – with the centre, who was later named player of the match, proving a lynchpin in the Irish midfield.
Finally the Irish were able to put daylight between the sides when Gillian Bourke crashed over and Ireland made sure of the win with further tries from flanker Claire Molloy and winger Mairead Kelly.
Particularly pleasing for Ireland was the performance of their newer faces, and the victory will mean that despite an excellent opening day win for France, they will not fear the French when they welcome them to Ashbourne next week.
Irish coach Philip Doyle was delighted with the win.
“With a brand new squad this season, Italy away from home was always going to be a tough game to open our year. They delivered on the physicality we were expecting and I am delighted to come away with a win. It was great to see Niamh (Kavanagh) and Ger (Rae) do so well – these are new players for us and they were outstanding.”
“I would also give credit to the Rovigo crowd for making the day so enjoyable – there was a big crowd here and there was plenty of noise and colour"
