Roman nightmare rounds off miserable Ireland campaign
Injury and indiscipline help Italy claim first Six Nations win in fixture
Italy 22 - 15 Ireland
Six Nations
Ireland’s Brian O'Driscoll sits on the sideline after being sin-binned in the first half of the game against Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA Wire
Ireland’s Cian Healy is tackled during the Six Nations match at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA
Once more the visiting defence looked set to crack but Italy were betrayed by their composure at a crucial moment.
A monster penalty from centre Garcia ensured the scoreboard kept ticking over, but Jackson replied on the stroke of half time amid a deafening chorus of boos from home fans irate at Barnes’s failure to punish Rob Kearney for shoving Luke McClean in the face.
The one-way traffic continued to flow towards the Irish line and inevitably they cracked, wing Venditti burrowing beneath a pile of green shirts to score a try that was confirmed by the TMO.
The near-touchline conversion was landed by Orquera, giving Italy a 10-point lead, but Parisse was sin-binned for tripping substitute Ian Madigan and in his absence Jackson kicked two penalties.
The final quarter began with an all-out assault on the Italian line with O’Mahony and wing Craig Gilroy making the biggest inroads.
The Azzurri infringed in front of the posts, allowing Jackson to kick his fifth penalty, but Parisse returned to the fray to steady the ship.
Gori came crashing down to the turf, landing on his head, after colliding with Devin Toner but the scrumhalf eventually rose to his feet and Barnes was correct to leave Toner unpunished.
Ryan was shown a yellow card and Orquera dispatched a long-range three points, before Murray then followed his Munster colleague into the sin-bin for an off-the ball challenge.
The offence reduced Ireland to 13 men for a spell and Italy would not be denied with Orquera slotting a late penalty to complete the victory.
Italy: Andrea Masi (Wasps); Giovanbattista Venditti (Zebre), Gonzalo Canale (Stade Rochelais), Gonzalo Garcia (Zebre), Luke McLean (Treviso ); Luciano Orquera (Zebre), Edoardo Gori (Treviso); Andrea Lo Cicero (Racing Metro), Leonardo Ghiraldini (Treviso), Lorenzo Cittadini (Treviso), Quintin Geldenhuys (Zebre), Joshua Furno (Narbonne), Alessandro Zanni (Treviso), Simone Favaro (Treviso), Sergio Parisse (Stade Francais).
Replacements:Paul Derbyshire (Treviso) for Favaro (57 mins), Francesco Minto (Treviso) for Furno (57 mins), Michele Rizzo (Treviso) for Lo Cicero (64 mins), Antonio Pavanello (Treviso) for Geldenhuys (64 mins), Tommaso Benvenuti (Treviso) for Masi (65 mins), Tobias Botes (Treviso) for Gori (74 mins), Alberto De Marchi (Treviso) for Cittadini (74 mins), Davide Giazzon (Zebre) for Ghiraldini (74 mins).
Ireland:
Rob Kearney (Leinster ); Craig Gilroy (Ulster), Brian O'Driscoll (Leinster), Luke Marshall (Ulster), Keith Earls (Munster); Paddy Jackson (Ulster), 9-Conor Murray, 1-Cian Healy (Leinster), 2-Rory Best (Ulster), Mike Ross (Leinster), Mike McCarthy, Donnacha Ryan, Peter O'Mahony, Sean O'Brien(Leinster), Jamie Heaslip (Leinster, capt).
Replacements:
Luke Fitzgerald (Leinster) for Earls (24 mins), Ian Madigan (Leinster) for Marshall (27 mins), Iain Henderson (Ulster) for Fitzgerald (36 mins), Devin Toner (Leinster) for McCarthy (64 mins), Stephen Archer (Munster) for Ross (66 mins), Seán Cronin (Leinster) for Best (69 mins), David Kilcoyne (Munster) for Healy (69 mins), Paul Marshall (Ulster) for Ryan (79 mins.
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