Pack lead way in facile victory

Ireland - 59 Italy - 5In the end it was a facile victory, facilitated by a much improved post-interval performance in which Ireland racked up 47 points. The opening 40 minutes were a quite different entity as the home side huffed and puffed largely to little effect.

The general handling was sloppy, ball carriers were isolated and there was a lack of control and accuracy to the Irish performance. Matters were not helped by the fussy and intrusive whistle of the Scottish referee Andrew Ireland. The Italians, in particular, will rue his interpretation of the laws.

Two players, prop Alejandro Moreno and outhalf and captain Francesco Mazzariol, visited the sin bin, and the latter was a very harsh decision. It gave Ireland the numerical advantage and, more pertinently, a little extra space in which to operate.

But the Italians were also guilty of a plethora of basic technical offences. They will also reflect on a couple of missed penalties by Mazzariol, both reasonably straight-forward, at a time when Ireland were struggling to impose their patterns.

For all their domination of the possession, as Leo Cullen and Bob Casey gobbled up hooker Gavin Hickie's accurate delivery out of touch, Ireland initially looked laboured with the ball. It was generally only when Victor Costello or Alan Quinlan intervened that the thrust was direct and not lateral.

The Irish number eight had a fine game, scoring a try, but it was his colleague in the backrow, Keith Gleeson, who provided the outstanding individual performance. His support play and angles of running were marvellous to behold and guaranteed Ireland the continuity they craved.

He, too, deserved a try and that came on 68 minutes when Costello swatted aside a couple of tacklers, before finding Gleeson, as usual on his shoulder.

Casey had an excellent game too and the pack in general can be pleased with their contribution, especially young Gavin Hickie in his first start.

Outhalf Paul Burke kept the scoreboard ticking over in the first half with four penalties, but even the 12-0 interval lead was very harsh on the Italians. They tackled aggressively but when in possession were guilty of the same sloppiness and handling errors that dogged Ireland's display in that period.

The match desperately needed a bright opening after the re-start and the home side obliged when Mike Mullins raced on to Neil Doak's quick free kick to muscle his way over from five yards.

Full back Paddy Wallace was next to cross the Italian line, and by the 49th minute Ireland had recorded their third try of the half, arguably the game's best.

Costello set up a ruck, Gleeson exploited the short side and timed his passed beautifully to Mullins. The Munster centre raced 40 metres, bouncing off one tackler before offloading unselfishly to the supporting Anthony Horgan.

The Italians' body language articulated their misery but the regular introduction of Irish replacements guaranteed no respite. Costello crossed for a try on 59 minutes, following good interplay from backs and forwards. Burke converted before being replaced by Jeremy Staunton: Wallace went to outhalf.

Italian right wing Fabrizio Casagrande won a kick and chase for his side's first and only score.

SCORING SEQUENCE: 4 mins: Burke penalty, 3-0; 10: Burke penalty, 6-0; 38: Burke penalty, 9-0; 41: Burke penalty, 12-0. Half-time: 12-0. 43: Mullins try, Burke conversion, 19-0; 47: Wallace try, 24-0; 49: Horgan try, Burke conversion, 31-0; 59: Costello try, Burke conversion, 38-0; 68: Gleeson try, Wallace conversion, 45-0; 73: Casey try, Wallace conversion, 52-0; 77: Casagrande try, 52-5; 80: Holland try, Wallace conversion, 59-5.

IRELAND A: P Wallace (Ulster); G D'Arcy (Leinster), M Mullins (Munster), J Holland (Munster), A Horgan (Munster); P Burke (Harlequins), N Doak (Ulster); R Corrigan (Leinster, capt), G Hickie (Leinster), S Best (Ulster); L Cullen (Leinster), B Casey (Leinster), A Quinlan (Munster), V Costello (Leinster), K Gleeson (Leinster). Replacements: D O'Callaghan (Munster) for Cullen 53 mins; A Ward (Ulster) for Quinlan 54 mins; M Horan (Munster) for Best 60 mins; B O'Meara (Leinster) for Doak 61 mins; J Staunton (Munster) for Burke 61 mins; J Bishop (London Irish) for Horgan 66 mins; J Blaney (Munster) for Hickie 71 mins.

ITALY A: M Baroni; F Casagrande, S Pace, R Salvan, J Sebastien Francesio; F Mazzariol (capt), L Villagra; A Moreno, C Festuccia, C Nieto; L Mastrodomencio, E Pavanello; A Benatti, E Candiago, A Birchall. Replacements: T Paoletti for Candiago (temp, 38- 43 mins); M Zaffiri for Candiago 64 mins; S Saviozzi for Festuccia 66 mins; G Preo for Salvan 66 mins; T Paoletti for Moreno 71 mins; F Fratti for Villagra 74 mins.

Yellow cards: A Moreno (Italy) 37-47 mins; F Mazzariol (Italy) 62-72 mins.

Referee: A Ireland (Scotland).