Young Italians give Irish a fright

Wolfhounds 20 England Saxons 11:DON'T BE fooled by the scoreline here; if this is a precursor to what will happen in Rome today then expect a nervous finale at Stadio Flaminio.

Encouragingly, though, Ireland came good when it mattered most. Just two points ahead with 14 minutes remaining in a scoreless second half, Ireland managed to release themselves from the slugfest which had developed between the packs, and they cut loose in the closing stages with fullback Craig Gilroy grabbing a brace of tries.

Perfect conditions at Stadio XXV Aprile in Parma allowed for a good contest and the crowd of about 1,500 had plenty to enjoy as they battled the freezing temperatures.

The electric pace of Andrew Boyle on the left-wing provided the most memorable moments of the opening half as the Leinster speedster terrorised the defence.

He was the architect of the only try of the first period when he skipped around three tackles after taking a pass from skipper Niall Annett before sending loosehead Jack Tracy over after 32 minutes.

That pushed Ireland 11-6 in front, with Paddy Jackson off target with the conversion.

That proved costly as Italy broke downfield and reduced the margin to 11-9 at the break when Marco Gennari made no mistake with a penalty from 35 metres after Ireland strayed offside.

That was the third penalty for the local hero from outside Parma.

In the closing stages centre Luke Marshall provided the class with a superb break with 10 minutes left for Jordi Murphy to send Gilroy over.

The win was sealed four minutes later when Brendan Macken provided the opening for Gilroy.

ITALY: A Cosulich; A Morsellino, G Alberghini, T Castello, M Gennari; L Morisi, G Palazzani; N Quaglio, A Kudin, P Leso, M Fuser, A Mammana, E Ghiraldini, J Bocchi, E Ruffolo. Replacements: T Enodeh for Castello (47 mins); G Maistri for Quaglio, R Cagna for Leso (both 50 mins); A Balsemin for Fuser, F Menon for Alberghini (both 61 mins), V Callori di Vignale for Cosulich (78 mins).

IRELAND: C Gilroy; A Conway, A Kelly, L Marshall, A Boyle; P Jackson, B McIlroy; J Tracy, N Annett, M Moore; M Kearney, D Qualter; J Murphy, A Conneely, E McKeon. Replacements: I Henderson for McKeon (13 mins); C Carey for Moore (32-40 mins); D Doyle for Kearney (55-62 mins); B Macken for Kelly (60 mins); P du Toit for McIlroy, F Bealham for Murphy (75 mins); C Marsh for Jackson (78 mins).

Referee: N Hennessy (Wales).