Italy V Ireland Match thread

Thankfully Italy games are no longer a foregone conclusion.

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.

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.

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

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).

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.

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.

No, Scotland will beat em.

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.

Good to see us dig in and find scores at important moments to close out a really difficult match.

Positive also that the bench made a positive difference but there are some worrying issues coming out of it.

Can't really understand positive views of Byrne coming out of that came. Sure he didn't make any glaring errors but he was ponderous and did little to unlock the Italian defence. Kicking was also iffy. A very decent club player, but it shouldn't be surprising that a guy who will be 28 in a few weeks, and who has never looked like a top international up until now, is unlikely to become one at this stage in his career. Its a real problem area for Ireland because if he's our starting 10 against quality opposition we are unlikely to play well. Really hard to imagine Byrne is our best option here.

Aki really wasn't great defensively in the 13 channel and Conan was largely anonymous. Must be difficult for Coombes to look at that backrow performance and still not get a look in, despite his form.

There was a period in the second half before he went off where we looked very rudderless in the Italian half. We ended up coming away with nothing after a multiphase headless period with no ideas and no leadership in attack. The difference in the very same situation with murray and Crowley ten minutes later was night and day. Otherwise I thought Byrne was ok but that period said a lot, Italy on the rack and no idea how to take advantage.

Scotch???

I'm glad Casey + Byrne started even though they both were a mixed bag. Giving them big game experience is exactly what was needed especially Casey. They may potentially start a WC q/f or even a s/f they way our half of the draw is.