Italy V Ireland Match thread

sydthebeat · 25-02-2023 5:15pm

Oh fcuk!!!

Pardon :D

Cluedo Monopoly · 25-02-2023 5:15pm

Thankfully Italy games are no longer a foregone conclusion.

Dick phelan · 25-02-2023 5:16pm

Positives are we scored 5 tries could easily have been 6. We gifted them a try so again from real play held them to 1. O Toole did well when he came on.. Very sloppy at times bad decision making. Doris should be at 8. Ringrose is vital. Casey didn't provide enough quality ball firmly 3rd behind Murray and Gibson Park.

Who should be back for the Scotland game? Don't think we'd beat them playing like that.

VeryOwl · 25-02-2023 5:16pm

Good win given how inspired Italy are, but Byrne and McCloskey looked very slow to my eyes.

Strumms · 25-02-2023 5:16pm

Hansen 🤪😅😂

SaoPaulo41 · 25-02-2023 5:16pm

Who is the back up to Sexton now? Can't be Byrne he is ponderous, missed kicks , just shoveled out passes. Carbery not answer either. Crowely not playing 10 for Munster .

Tileman · 25-02-2023 5:17pm

Great to see Italy being really competitive. Ireland were not as clinical as they need to be. They don’t seem to be able to finish well enough. Lowe on that last one should have finished . Those 7 points could be the difference in a championship at the end.

I could see Italy beat wales.

All_in_Flynn · 25-02-2023 5:17pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120287585#Comment_120287585

He's fine in attack but he's not quick enough to get on the outside defensively. I'd be very nervous with him there against any top 5 side. To be fair, he's probably struggling for match fitness and he will be better for that game.

snotboogie · 25-02-2023 5:18pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120287617#Comment_120287617

Thought he was very passive, sat deep and mostly just shovelled to the next man. Worryingly he looked extremely unathletic in defence. I’m not sure he’s offered anything that Carbury wasn’t previously. Carbury also covers more positions and is a far superior athlete.

Ragwort and Stones · 25-02-2023 5:19pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120287644#Comment_120287644

Definitely not Carvery, he must be a friend of Bundee's😛

phily2002 · 25-02-2023 5:20pm

Comfy enough win in the end. Italy played well but you never felt we were losing that. We struggled defensively out wide, Ringrose was badly missed. 15 points out of 15 points, role on Scotland

razorblunt · 25-02-2023 5:21pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120287574#Comment_120287574

Adamson needs every bit of help he can get though. At the end there he even lost sight of where the ball was in the ruck.

Farrell said before the game that this being game 3 he expected their best performance to date in the tournament. What he got was far from that. Not sure if the break next week will help or hinder them.

blackcard · 25-02-2023 5:21pm

Thought Casey was poor, a number of passes at head height and poor kicks. Ireland got nowhere with their maul and struggled in the Italian 22. Gave away too many penalties. Doris late on, Murray and Baird made a difference. Murrayfield will be nervy particularly if we have any more injuries.

SaoPaulo41 · 25-02-2023 5:21pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120287652#Comment_120287652

😅🤣

SaoPaulo41 · 25-02-2023 5:23pm

Lowe should of been MOTM

Cluedo Monopoly · 25-02-2023 5:24pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120287650#Comment_120287650

I'd agree that Carberry has more class but he is also made of glass. Imagine Carberry as first choice in a WC - he'd be gone by Game 2.

tanko · 25-02-2023 5:25pm

Scotlands backs will rip that Irish back line to shreds if they play like that again.

Cluedo Monopoly · 25-02-2023 5:25pm

Baird and O'Mahony and Murray really helped but Italy were a very tired side at that point. We are a fitter team.

naughtyboy · 25-02-2023 5:28pm

Conan is not the same since the lions, looks to have lost pace and power.

Byrne lacks the pass and the pace to start a game

Baird looked very good when on, pom showed why he always starts

Farrell will not sleep well tonight, Ross Byrne was so poor and crowley is green

For me it's frawley or carberry

CptMonkey · 25-02-2023 5:30pm

Byrne didn't inspire confidence in that match. Maybe playing with Murray might have helped. Looked a bit out of his depth. Not sure what we will do at 10.

25-02-2023 5:33pm

We were poor enough there, but always felt we were going to win the game.

There comes a point where you can only lose so many first line players out of your squad without seeing performances suffer.

We saw even more evidence today of how world class Garry Ringrose is when he wasn't on the pitch than we did in his first two (excellent) performances.

Bundee is 100% not able to defend at thirteen at this level. He might have made 10+ bad reads today where he left the back three in no mans land and gave up line breaks. He was at the centre of a lot of the good stuff we did in attack, but was appalling in defence.

Ross Byrne was pretty good to me - he showed some really nice touches in attack. People having a go at him for missing two touchline conversions need to cop themselves on.

To me, Craig Casey had a poor outing. It's so frustrating because I feel he is excellent coming off the bench to inject tempo for Ireland, but he really lacked composure today for me when we needed him. The difference was evident to me when Murray came in and closed out the game.

TBF to the people calling for Jack Conan to be out, I'm in that camp after today's performance. He was poor today. Doris wasn't as visible and effective and we weren't getting as much ball in his hands at 6, so to me, the coaches got that decision wrong.

Bench brought good impact - especially POM, Murray and Ryan Baird, who had two massive moments.

Good outing for Tom O'Toole who showed well. Really hope Bealham's injury isn't as bad as it looked.

Josh van der Flier would have been my MotM. His work ethic today was just incredible again, and he had some massive moments for us.

We'll need to be a lot better than we were today to get a win in Murrayfield.

KaneToad · 25-02-2023 5:35pm

I have consistently argued that Casey is not a test quality SH. He is thoroughly likeable because he is small, honest and tenacious. But he seldom delivers.

He has potential to be Irelands starting 9 but he is not there yet. Murray is still a much, much better option ( behind Park).

CIARAN_BOYLE · 25-02-2023 5:40pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120287715#Comment_120287715

I agree. That said I'm glad Casey got his shot. He is stylistically more similar to JGP than Murray so I thought it was worth giving him the start.

Neil3030 · 25-02-2023 5:42pm

I'd rate that as a largely positive outing for us.

I say outing because the performance was around 6 or 7 out of 10, and that was largely down to Italy.

They will now give us as tough a game as Wales and possibly even Scotland.

Their intensity, strike running, power in defense, were all fantastic. They are a proper side.

A proper side against which we could test a 9,10,12,13 combo of Casey, Byrne, McCloskey and Bundee.

We showed creaks on both sides of the ball, but seeing how good Italy were, that's not the end of the world.

If Italy keep doing what they're doing, and grow in confidence and composure in the red zone, Rome will no longer be a holiday in the 6N for anyone.

razorblunt · 25-02-2023 5:42pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120287681#Comment_120287681

You'd hope that a backrow of Ritchie, Watson and Fagerson wouldn't be as aggressive as the Italians today. Their locks were immense as well. Gilchrist and Gray (either of them) just flop on rucks.

phily2002 · 25-02-2023 5:43pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120287710#Comment_120287710

A lot of people saying Conan was poor. He had the most carries out of the forwards when he went off. His rucking was solid, he a couple of big ones to prevent turnovers. He'd a great double tackle after a break. He smashed their 9 with a good block down.

I didnt think he shot the lights out but he definitely wasn't poor.

SaoPaulo41 · 25-02-2023 5:45pm

Italy will beat both Scotland and Wales

Cluedo Monopoly · 25-02-2023 5:47pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120287760#Comment_120287760

No, Scotland will beat em.

Cluedo Monopoly · 25-02-2023 5:49pm

We will need 3 out halfs at the WC. Sexton, Byrne and Carberry (if fit).

SlickRic · 25-02-2023 5:51pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120287641#Comment_120287641

They stood out a mile today as a tick below.

Byrne didn't have the courage in the second half to actually get to the line as he would normally do.

Ringrose also an enormous loss in terms of defensive discipline.

Italy V Ireland Match thread

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