Ireland struggle to overcome plucky Italy in Pool D

Sunday’s Rugby World Cup Pool D fixture between Ireland and Italy saw the men in green scrape a 16-9 win against a determined Azzurri team in uncomfortable circumstances.

The expectation going into the game was that Ireland would earn a bonus-point victory easily enough, yet they were given their first real test of this World Cup.

Ireland applied a lot of pressure on Italy in the early stages of the game. They put width on the ball, using decent decoy runners and pull-back passes in an attempt to stretch the Italian defence.

Towards the end of the first quarter, a lineout steal by Peter O’Mahony deep in Italy’s 22 was followed up by good carries from Jamie Heaslip and Iain Henderson to keep Ireland on the front foot. The ball was spread wide, with Jonny Sexton giving a reverse pass to Robbie Henshaw who stayed upright in contact to offload to Keith Earls for the only try of the game in the 19th minute.

At this point, Ireland were 10-3 up and should have pushed on, but indiscretions at the breakdown allowed Italy to get back into the game. Passive defence and excellent exploitation of space by Sergio Parisse put Ireland on the back foot, with Edoardo Gori sniping around the fringes to good effect.

Despite this, Ireland got a foothold in Italy’s half in the few minutes before half-time in what proved to be a turning point in the game. Ireland were awarded a penalty in the 37th minute that was well within Sexton’s range but the decision was to kick for the corner. The ball was thrown to O’Mahony at two, only to be knocked on by Conor Murray at the base of the ensuing maul.

At this point in the game, Ireland really needed the three points. Italy had defended aggressively throughout the first half, and showed no signs of wilting. If Ireland had just extended their lead, it would have maybe gone some way towards putting doubt in the minds of the Italian players. Instead, Ireland failed to execute and gave away a penalty at the following scrum, giving themselves no chance of putting points on the board before half-time.

Italy flew out of the blocks after the break. A penalty against Tommy Bowe in the 41st minute allowed Italy to dominate possession for the opening minutes of the second half. Good ball-retention and pressure (despite an improvement in Ireland’s line speed) built towards a missed opportunity when Joshua Furno almost scored a try out wide on the left, only to be denied by an excellent covering tackle by O’Mahony.

It was disappointing for the powerful second rower, especially considering how well he had performed, but one of Italy’s wingers needed to be in that position to take full advantage.

Momentum swung in Ireland’s favour just before the beginning of the third quarter. They did well to absorb the pressure that Italy heaped on them in the build-up to Furno’s disallowed try.

The introduction of Cian Healy and Nathan White from the bench in the 59th minute gave Ireland stability in the scrum, an area where Italy had developed an advantage throughout the game. It was also around this time that Ireland changed their tactics. They began to use the kicking of Murray and Sexton and the aerial prowess of Bowe to keep Italy pinned back in their own half.

Even taking into account Ireland’s territorial dominance in the final quarter, O’Mahony’s yellow card for a dangerous shoulder charge in the 72nd minute set up a nervous final 10 minutes for his team. The amount of tackling that Italy had done throughout the game began to tell as they struggled to run the ball out of their own half. Ireland did just enough to finish the game with a seven-point lead in what was an unsatisfying performance for them.

Although their final pool game against Romania is something of a dead rubber at this stage, it is disappointing that Italy cannot maintain the level of tenacity that they showed in this game on a consistent basis. They have only shown glimpses of it in the past few years, with their victories against France and Ireland in 2013 and against Scotland earlier this year being the notable examples.

Ireland have more effective ball-carriers, but the ferocious competitiveness of the Italian pack kept them in the game. What they may have lacked in talent, they more than made up for in endeavour. Italy’s starting back row made 36 tackles between them, compared to 17 by Ireland’s. The word monumental doesn’t begin to describe that type of effort.

Italy are not a team known for scoring mesmerising tries, but Parisse’s runs in wider channels and skip-passes were a joy to watch, being all the more impressive considering that he returned to the team not too long after having leg surgery. The fact that Italy rushed their talismanic captain back into their team for this game signalled their intent to target a win: they would not have risked him otherwise.

Ireland have a lot that they need to improve on if they are to top their pool. If they give France anywhere near the same kind of space out wide that they gave Italy, Louis Picamoles, Wesley Fofana and Mathieu Bastareaud will run riot. It speaks volumes that a back line as limited as Italy’s was able to get a good return by attacking Ireland in wider channels.

This is where Jared Payne’s absence was most keenly felt. Earls’ pace, distribution, footwork and support lines at 13 are an asset to Ireland in attack. The flip side to this is that his line speed (or lack thereof) put Ireland under pressure throughout the game, although he was not the only player who was guilty of this. Good defence and aggressive line speed is a collective effort, and none of Ireland’s players will be pleased with this aspect of their performance, especially in the first half.

Ireland’s intensity will have to increase considerably if they are to be competitive up front against France on Sunday. Although Henderson was immense in contact, Ireland were hammered back in the tackle by Italy’s forwards a number of times.

Ireland were also passive and ill-disciplined at the breakdown. Their clearouts weren’t accurate or quick enough to generate quick ruck ball and they conceded too many penalties in this area. They gave the arriving Italian player far too much time to get over the ball and apply pressure. If there is a repeat of some of the cheap turnovers that they were guilty of against Italy, Ireland will be taken apart up front.

So far in this tournament, France have been disorganised at tight, both in attack and defence. The refusal to allow the opposition easy yards around the ruck is an area of the game that most teams pride themselves on, yet to see France being vulnerable in this regard against teams like Canada and Romania has been disappointing.

This is something that Joe Schmidt would likely have targeted as a weakness in France’s game, but he will have to reconsider after seeing Ireland coming off second-best in this area against Italy.

One of the main reasons why Ireland were able to beat France in the Six Nations Championship earlier this year was their ability to maul effectively. This quality wasn’t evident against Italy until Devin Toner replaced Henderson, which will be of great concern to the Irish management, considering that it has been one of the cornerstones of Ireland’s success over the past two years.

Another negative in Ireland’s performance was the inaccuracy of their back line movements. Sexton played quite close to the gain line and Ireland’s intention to use the inside ball was discernible from the start of the game. However, poor passing and an aggressive Italian defence caused Ireland to make several errors when they attempted to put the ball through the hands.

Their first try aside, Ireland also displayed a poor appreciation of space. Several of their players (both up front and out wide) spent too much of the game running into heavy traffic. Henderson, O’Mahony, O’Brien and Heaslip are all dynamic forwards, but it is difficult to get over the gain line when you run head-first into contact instead of targeting space.

In the backs, Earls looked for gaps in the Italian defence but Henshaw looked for contact far too often. Dave Kearney, Bowe and Simon Zebo can run good lines and are reasonably strong in contact, but every time they received a pass, an Italian player lined them up and smashed them.

There weren’t many positives, if any, to take from the game for Ireland. There were some decent individual performances: Henderson was outstanding, Toner’s contribution from the bench helped Ireland close out the game and O’Mahony’s try-saving tackle got his team out of jail.

Although Ireland’s scrum was under pressure in the first half, their replacement props made a difference in terms of gaining parity in this area. However, no players did anything of note in the loose. Ireland also did an excellent job of competing at lineout time, but the advantage they had in this area can be largely attributed to a poor performance by Andrea Manici.

Schmidt often talks about process-oriented goals and the most frustrating aspect of Ireland’s performance is that they focused on the end result of a possible bonus point rather than the processes they needed to implement to achieve this goal.

He has dug this team out of a hole before and he will need to do so again to give Ireland any chance of reaching the semi-finals.