Player Ratings - Ireland vs Italy

1. Jack McGrath – 7/10

Good tackle on Matteo Minozzi to prevent a linebreak early on.

2. Rory Best - 7/10

Showed great strength to stay in play at the back of the maul, setting up Ireland’s 3^rd try. Managed to get himself on the scoresheet.

3. Tadhg Furlong – N/A

Injured early on in the game with a hamstring injury which will cause Joe Schmidt some concern.

4. Iain Henderson – 7/10

Great carries to get Ireland over the gain line, freeing up space out wide for the backs to exploit. A good first half effort.

5. Devin Toner - 7/10

Good shift from Toner, played his part in a solid forward performance.

6. Peter O'Mahony – 7/10

Performed well at the line out, offloaded well and was solid in defence.

7. Dan Leavy - 6/10

 Good shift throughout the whole 80 from Leavy. Some strong carries but got caught out in defence once or twice leading to an Italian try.

8. Jack Conan – 7/10

Played a good role in a few of Ireland's tries with some nice carries and skills. Made good yards going forward but got a knock to his knee and came off at halftime.

9. Conor Murray – 9/10

A MOTM performance from the man up for European Rugby’s player of the year. He was key to Ireland’s attack in the first half, setting up a couple of tries for Henshaw and Aki, and scoring one himself. The pace of the ball at the breakdown definitely assisted him but the pace of his delivery to Sexton allowed the backline to expose weaknesses out wide.

10. Johnny Sexton – 8/10

Another good performance from the Leinster out-half as he drove his team around the park, using the dangerous backline outside him to awesome effect. He kicked flawlessly at goal and the famous Sexton loop was on show on a number of occasions.

11. Jacob Stockdale – 9/10

Cracking performance from the Ulster winger, top of the stat charts for metres gained, defenders beaten, carries and offloads. Finished off his 2 tries well and probably deserved the man of the match award.

12. Bundee Aki – 7/10

Solid in defence, putting in some ferocious tackles. Went over for his 1^st try for Ireland with a powerful carry in tight. Set up Keith Earls try with a good linebreak after identifying a mismatch in midfield. A couple of knock-ons which Schmidt will be displeased by. 4 handling errors will be of concern

13. Robbie Henshaw – 7/10

Ran some lovely lines in the first half, cutting the Italian defence to pieces. Grabbed 2 tries before unfortunately coming off with a dislocated shoulder.

14. Keith Earls – 7/10

The winger was immense today and was unlucky to not get over for a try. Stockdale could have gifted him one in the 2^nd half but made the decision to finish it himself. His athleticism was on show on a number of occasions, taking a cross-field kick from Sexton over his head magnificently, as well as showing great pace and desire to get back and prevent Bellini from scoring Italy’s BP try.

15. Rob Kearney – 6/10

Kearney was solid as always, taking a number of high balls and making a few good tackles. However, it is clear that a lot more could be offered in attack from the fullback position, given the embarrassment of riches in the position. He failed to break through the weak Italian defence and made the decision to bite in on Hayward towards the end, putting Minozzi in for a try.