Italy vs Ireland - Conor Murray and Keith Earls see off valiant Italians to secure bonus-point win
Re-live the action from the Six Nations clash at the Stadio Olimpico
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Italy were not able to capitalise on their half-time lead as Ireland recovered from a Six Nations scare to emerge from the Stadio Olimpico with a 26-16 victory in the bag and, crucially for their championship hopes, a try-scoring bonus point.
Early scores from Quinn Roux and Jacob Stockdale put Ireland 12-3 to the good, with the home side's response in-between the scores coming from the boot of fly-half Tommaso Allan.
But Italy responded in the best possible way to lead into half-time. First Edoardo Padovani finishes a well-worked move before centre Luca Morisi was on hand to finish a breakaway counter attack, with scrum-half Tito Tebaldi proving hugely influential in their recovery.
Ireland needed to bounce back and it looked nervy when Johnny Sexton put the second-half restart short, but the visitors soon regained their composure and Keith Earls put them back in front with the third try for the men in green, before Conor Murray got on the back of a driving lineout maul to seal the bonus point.
Italy attempted to earn a losing bonus point deep into time added on, but Ian McKinley's penalty effort floated wide and Conor O'Shea’s side left empty handed for the third consecutive match.
Re-live the live action below.
What time does it start?
Italy vs Ireland kicks off at 3:00pm (GMT) on Sunday 24th February.
Where can I watch it?
The match will be shown live on ITV from 2:15pm. The match will also be available on ITV Hub.
Highlights will be shown on Sunday at 6pm on BBC Two.
Line-ups
Italy: Hayward; Padovani, Campagnaro, Morisi, Esposito; Allan, Tebaldi; Lovotti, Ghiraldini, Ferrari, Ruzza, Budd, Tuivaiti, Mbanda, Steyn
Replacements: Bigi, Traore, Pasquali, Sisi, Zanni, Palazzani, McKinley, Castello
Ireland: Kearney; Earls, Farrell, Aki, Stockdale; Sexton, Murray; Kilcoyne, Cronin, Furlong, Dillane, Roux, O’Mahony, O’Brien, Murphy
Replacements: Scannell, McGrath, Ryan, Henderson, van der Flier, Cooney, Carty, Conway
Form guide…
France: LLWLLL
Scotland: LWLWWL
Head-to-head…
Ireland 54 (Beirne x2, McGrath, Larmour x3, Cronin, Ringrose) Italy 7, Autumn Internationals, November 2018
Ireland 56 (Henshaw x2, Murray, Aki, Earls, Best, Stockdale) Italy 19 (Allan, Gori), Six Nations, February 2018
Italy 10 (pen try) Ireland 63 (Stander x3, Earls x2, Gilroy x3, Ringrose), Six Nations, February 2017
Odds…
Italy to win: 25/1
Ireland to win: 1/100
Draw: 75/1
Prediction…
Ireland by 35 points
6 mins: Oh no. Cronin has waited an eternity for his Six Nations first start, and he completely fluffs his lines on the lineout to miss his jumper. Tebaldi cleans up and feeds the ball to Padovani, who thumps a big kick down-field and finds touch in the Irish half.
8 mins: Ireland can't get anything going here as Jackson again penalises them in the driving maul, but from the next catch and drive they do a good job of getting hands on the ball and force the turnover, much to their delight.
12 mins: Ireland have no problems getting the ball into the Italian 22, but credit to the home side, their defence is proving fairly sturdy when they get there. Sexton has his first snipe before Stockdale comes in search of ball and makes in-roads towards the 5m line...TRY FOR IRELAND!
12 mins: Farrell makes a nice break through the middle and comes within inches of touching down between the posts. Rather then selfishly go for glory, he recycles the ball and Murray goes left to feed Quinn Roux, who powers over on his shoulder. Sexton adds the extras and Ireland lead. 0-7
Ireland are forced into a change though as Bundee Aki goes off for an HIA, with Andrew Conway on in his place.
15 mins: Ireland win yet another penalty as they run the ball out of their own 22, but again Cronin's lineout misfires as he's picked off by Dean Budd. Italy, needing the ball, kick possession away and they're not working anything at the moment. Earls then breaks down the right and hacks on for Conway to chase, but Hayward does well to get back, touch the ball down for the 22 and take a quick drop-kick to find touch on halfway.
17 mins: Italy win their first penalty of the day as O'Brien is caught offside when Earls knocks on a loose pass from Sexton, and Allan will have a long-range shot at goal from about 43m out.
18 mins: It's got the legs...but not the accuracy as it misses to the left of the uprights.
19 mins: O'Brien is penalised for not releasing as he tries to turn over Steyn, and Italy attack. They make good progress through Ghiraldini, and Tebaldi tries to catch Ireland napping by sniping through a gap. He's hauled down just short of the line, but when he gets back up to go for the line it's deemed a double movement. We'll come back for the penalty though, and Allan successfully kicks it to cut the lead. 3-7
21 mins: It's a cardinal sin from Italy. Budd goes up to claim the restart but Ferrari doesn't give him the support he needs and it floats over his head. The ball is loose and gets knocked on straight into the hands of Jacob Stockdale, who gallops over unopposed to score the second try of the match. Sexton can't convert. 3-12
Confirmation is through that Aki won't be returning.
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