Sunday Snippets

Irish Grit in Rome: Joe Schmidt’s Ireland side were made to work for every point of their 26-3 win over the Italians at the Stadio Olimpico yesterday, with the home side putting in a resilient shift for the vast majority of the 80 minutes. Infront of a large home crowd, the visitors to the Italian capital struggled to gain any real attacking momentum in the opening quarter, with new flyhalf Ian Keatley having a mixed performance to begin with. However, as the game progressed, the Munster man grew and grew into the ten jersey and began to dictate proceedings with his trusted right peg. After an early setback in the warm-up, with news that Sean O’Brien would miss out courtesy of a hamstring issue, Ireland called upon Munster’s Tommy O’Donnell to wear the seven jersey. A scrappy encounter to begin with, Ireland entered the break at halftime 9-3 ahead, through a string of Keatley penalties. 

As is often the case in these encounters, the Italians put in a staunch defensive effort for the opening 60 minutes, before Ireland scored their opening try. Having lost hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini to the sin bin for persistent infringing at the maul, 14-man Italy were made to pay by scrum half Conor Murray, with Keatley adding the extras from the tee. With Irish pressure mounting, the Italian midfield defence parted like the Red Sea, with open side flanker Tommy O’Donnell gladly playing the role of Moses, as the Munster man crashed through a string of weak tackles to make his way over from all of 45 metres. A deserved score for the Munster man, who, along with Keatley, was arguably one of Ireland’s finest performers over the 80 minutes, ably deputising for Sean O’Brien. Despite a late surge from the hosts, including a disallowed try for flyhalf Kelly Halmona, Ireland managed to hold out and secure a comfortable, if not perfect, win over their hosts in Rome. 

WRU in hot water: The Welsh Rugby Union have been officially asked to explain their management team’s decision to leave a visibly concussed George North on the field of play during Friday night’s Six Nations Championship opener against England. Having left the field in the opening half and undergone the standard head injury protocol tests both on the field and in the medical room, North returned to the field and seemed to continue on as normal. However, midway through the second period, at the 61 minute mark, North shipped a heavy knock as he attempted to make a tackle, flopping to the floor with no control over his body, visibly having been knocked out. With the incident not initially picked up by the Welsh medical staff, the injury went unnoticed for the remainder of the half, with North committing a string of unusual and unforced errors. With the increased and deserved emphasis surrounding the notion of concussion, the World Rugby have demanded a report be submitted by the Welsh medical staff, who themselves have now confirmed that North will now undertake a graduated return to play protocol with a string of cognitive and physical tests, as is the norm.

Ryan Sheady