Ireland 7 

Despite some encouraging aspects to their play, Cork native Deirbhile Nic a Bháird was disappointed that Ireland couldn’t convert pressure into scores against Italy at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in Parma on Saturday.

While the visitors enjoyed the majority of possession over the course of the contest, the more clinical Italians registered tries through Alyssa D’Incà (two) and Sofia Stefan to ensure Ireland succumbed to a third successive defeat in the 2023 Women’s Six Nations Championship.

“I think the fact that there was positive patches and we didn’t convert those is almost more disappointing. You can never question the heart that the girls show. That’s evident and I hope people see that at home. We are working extremely hard and things just aren’t coming right for us. It’s not an excuse, it’s just we don’t seem to have found the thing that clicks,” Nic a Bháird said when speaking to the IRFU’s social media channels after the game.

“Obviously we just need to find that and keep building on the positive things. I think there are positive things. Our set-piece has been really good. Scrum dominance again there this week is huge for us. We just need to find those little pieces at the end of phases that we’re missing out on.”

The build-up to this game had been dominated by the publication of a piece in The Telegraph newspaper last week describing an alleged sexist attitude within the IRFU, though how much this would have affected the players’ preparation is difficult to quantify.

This tie initially had all the hallmarks of a tight and tense affair, but the Azzurre eventually broke the deadlock on 29 minutes when scrum-half Stefan touched down at the end of a move that featured fine contributions from Beatrice Capomaggi, Aura Muzzo and Beatrice Rigoni.

Michela Sillari added the extras and while both Natasja Behan and Lauren Delany went close for Ireland in first-half stoppage-time, the Green Army were staring into a 7-0 interval deficit.

They were presented with an uphill task when D’Incà bagged another converted try for Italy just over 90 seconds into the second period and a Sillari penalty stretched them further in front after Ireland had failed to capitalise on some promising attacking play.

Excellent work from the Irish scrum led to a penalty try on 68 minutes, but even though this offered them a glimmer of hope, D’Incà’s second finish of the game late on meant they came away empty handed in northern Italy.

A daunting task awaits them against Championship pace-setters England at Musgrave Park next Saturday, but Nic a Bháird remains in a relatively positive mood in spite of Ireland being pointless ahead of that round four clash.

“It’s building. It is a young squad. We have very mixed experience levels, but the scrum was excellent. Even for younger props like Sadhbh [McGrath] coming through, Niamh O’Dowd coming through, to see what we are capable of in setting that benchmark for them is massive,” Nic a Bháird added.

“Nichola [Fryday] and Sam [Monaghan] are just incredible leaders as well from second row. I know we have the people to do the job that we need to do, we just need to find the last little bits.

“We take great confidence from that. Youth is like a double-edged sword. At the same time, you do need experience to end these games on a high, but it’s a good thing as well. We know that good things are coming.”

Scorers for Italy: Tries – A D’Incà (2), S Stefan. Pens – M Sillari. Cons – M Sillari (3).

Scorers for Ireland: Tries – Penalty try and con.

ITALY: B Capomaggi; A Muzzo, M Sillari, B Rigoni, A D’Incà; V Madia, S Stefan; G Maris, V Vecchini, L Gai; S Tounesi, G Duca; F Sgorbini, I Locatelli, G Franco.

Replacements: V Fedrighi for Sgorbini (56), E Stevanin for Madia (63), S Seye for Gai (67), S Barattin for Capomaggi (68), A Ranuccini for Locatelli (70), E Stecca for Maris, L Gurioli for Tounesi (both 79).

IRELAND: L Delany; A Doyle, A Dalton, A McGann, N Behan; D O’Brien, A Hughes; L Djougang, N Jones, C Haney; N Fryday, S Monaghan; D Wall, G Moore, D Nic a Bháird.

Replacements: K Buggy for Haney (52), M Scuffil-McCabe for Hughes (56), B Hogan for Wall (59), M Deely for Behan (61), H O’Connor for Moore (65), C Nielson for Jones, V Irwin for Dalton (76), S McGrath for Djougang (79).

Referee: A Groizeleau (France).