RUGBY
Carbery returns as Ireland cruise to victory
By Daire Walsh
ATHY’S Joey Carbery made his belated Six Nations bow on Saturday afternoon at the Aviva Stadium, where Ireland maintained their push for a Grand Slam title in a comfortable 56-19 win against an overwhelmed Italian side.
Carbery deputised for Leinster team-mate Jonathan Sexton in the final half-hour of the contest, and contributed three conversions in a bonus-point victory for Joe Schmidt’s charges. This gives him a haul of 18 points from seven international appearances, which bodes well for the months and years to come in the green jersey for the former Ardscoil na Trionoide student.
There were suggestions at the beginning of the week that Carbery might be picked from the start, before Schmidt eventually decided to stick with the much-vaunted half-back pairing of Sexton and Conor Murray.
Indeed, it was an unchanged back line for the visit of the Azzurri, with all of the alterations to the starting line-up being in the forward division.
Robbie Henshaw got the ball rolling for Ireland on the day with a 10th-minute try, and this was followed by a superb Murray finish on the left-wing three minutes later.
Bundee Aki also crossed over for his maiden score in an Irish shirt, while the magnificent Keith Earls ensured maximum points for the hosts by crossing over in the closing stages of the opening half.
Each five-pointer was supplemented by Sexton bonus kicks, giving Ireland an unassailable 28-0 interval lead. Henshaw enhanced their already considerable buffer after the restart, but in the act of scoring his second try, he suffered significant damage to his shoulder.
Though Rory Best added his name to the scoresheet in the Westmeath man’s absence, it coincided with the rise of Italy’s attacking game. Tommaso Allan finally opened their account on 55 minutes with a seven-point salvo, and the Irish line was subsequently breached by Edoardo Gori and Matteo Minozzi.
This was evidence of Italy’s fighting spirit, which will offer encouragement to their head coach Conor O’Shea – himself a former Ireland international. The home team remained a threat in attack, however, and a brace of Jacob Stockdale finishes ensured that all of 37 points separated the teams in the end.
The Irish provinces were also in action over the course of the weekend, with mixed results for the Kildare representatives in Leinster, Connacht and Munster. Fergus McFadden, Adam Byrne and debutant Will Connors (previously of North Kildare RFC) featured for Leinster in their 29-24 away defeat to Edinburgh on Friday night, while Ballymore Eustace native Craig Ronaldson was man of the match in Connacht’s success over the Ospreys on the same evening.