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

Italy vs Ireland: Six Nations preview

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

Key Points

• Ireland beat Italy 26-16 to keep title hopes alive
• Quinn Roux and Jacob Stockdale scored early tries, Keith Earls and Conor Murray secured the bonus point
• Italy led 16-12 at half-time through Edoardo Padovani and Luca Morisi scores
• Wales beat England 21-13 in a thriller in Cardiff
• Scotland defeated 27-10 by France

[24 February 2019 16:48 · Jack de Menezes]

83 mins: Henderson is pinged for side entry in a driving maul that was going places, and now they need to decide whether to go for posts or the corner. McKinley fashions for the corner, but the tee is on and the decision is changed to go for goal. It'll be McKinley to secure the bonus point...

[24 February 2019 16:50 · Jack de Menezes]

85 mins: McKinley misses it! Incredibly, Ireland don't end the match and Stockdale breaks away! He races to halfway, but when he tries to find Earls inside him it's knocked forwards and finally, the game comes to an end.

Ireland beat Italy 26-16!