RUGBY: OPINION
Ireland starts with hat trick of wins in Italy
By Daire Walsh
IT proved to be a perfect weekend for Irish teams in Italy, as all three made winning starts to their respective Six Nations Championships. Tougher tests will lie ahead on all fronts, but ahead of home games against France in the coming days, it was certainly important to hit the ground running.
There was further injury heartache for Sean O’Brien after he picked up a hamstring injury in the warm-up at Stadio Olimpico, but in his absence, Ireland emerged with a 26-3 success without needing to over-extend themselves.
Ian Keatley’s selection at out-half was one of the big pre-match talking points, and although it was a far from flawless performance by the Clontarf native, he did finish the contest with 14 points.
Tommy O’Donnell (O’Brien’s replacement) and Conor Murray crossed over to ensure that all but two of Ireland’s points were amassed by Munster players, and though there are of course areas of play for Joe Schmidt to work on, he will feel that they can produce a strong showing against the French, who struggled to a 15-8 win over Scotland on Saturday.
Following their 2013 Grand Slam and 2014 World Cup semi-final appearance, there is much expected of the Ireland Women’s side as well. Tom Tierney has taken over from Philip Doyle as head coach, and he guided his troops to a commanding 30-5 triumph in Florence on Friday evening.
Kildare’s Jenny Murphy was amongst the try-scorers for Ireland, while Paula Fitzpatrick (two), Heather O’Brien and newly-appointed captain Niamh Briggs also crossed over on a fine night for the visitors.
Defending champions France will provide a sterner test in Ashbourne on Friday, however, and with several new faces in the squad, the experience of Murphy, Briggs, Alison Miller and Nora Stapleton will be vital.
The Ireland Under-20s faced the greatest Italian attacking threat of the weekend, but they still registered seven tries in a comprehensive 47-15 triumph.
In a similar fashion to the women’s side, this was Nigel Carolan’s first game as U20s coach, and he selected two Kildare players in his first starting line-up. Billy Dardis was one of the try-scorers from full-back, and in addition to Jeremy Loughman at hooker, Joey Carberry was introduced to the action during the first-half.
There was disappointment for both Kildare sides in the Leinster Schools’ Junior Cup this week, as Newbridge College and Clongowes Wood College suffered first-round defeats to Gonzaga College and defending champions Blackrock College respectively.
Tries by Colm Mulcahy, Rowan Osborne and James Lappin did help Clongowes to book their place in the Senior Cup semi-final with a magnificent win over the hotly-fancied St Michael’s College on Sunday, though, and Newbridge will be hoping to join them in the last-four when they meet St Andrew’s College in their quarter-final tie at Donnybrook this afternoon (KO 3pm).
Elsewhere, Athy’s hopes of promotion from the Leinster Senior League Division 2B had a big boost over the weekend. They received a walkover from Swords in their most recent encounter, and will now face a crunch final round tie against fellow high-flyers Athboy.