Clinical Ireland run riot to pile more Six Nations misery on Italy
over 4 years in The guardian
Italy 10-48 Ireland
Azzurri have lost last 30 Six Nations games
Was this champagne rugby or a more affordable prosecco? Ireland emphatically won a match they simply had to win and extended Italy’s Six Nations losing streak to 30 matches. He may be displaying a few grey hairs these days but Johnny Sexton remains one of the world’s finest fly-halves and his prompting with the ball in hand and flawless kicking, combined with Ireland’s forward muscle, was too much for the Azzurri.
Both these sides lost their first two matches and the afternoon started badly for Franco Smith’s men: Gloucester scrum-half Stephen Varney was injured in the warm-up, replaced by Callum Braley. But when Mathieu Raynal’s whistle blew they enjoyed an encouraging start: an early kick for the corner, clean lineout ball, and a Paolo Garbisi penalty after Tadhg Furlong was penalised for not rolling away. Continue reading...
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