Ireland earn first win of Greg McWilliams era with thumping result over Italy

Ireland 29 Italy 8

A 29-8 mauling of Italy gave Ireland their first win in the 2022 Women's Six Nations Championship in a blustery Musgrave Park on Sunday.

After a meek start, Ireland blitzed the visitors in the second half by scoring nineteen points which secured the bonus point in front almost five thousand fans.

Greg McWilliams’ team, who were beaten 40-5 in France last weekend, had to work hard from the start as a penalty from Beatrice Rigoni gave Italy a 3-0 lead inside three minutes.

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Ireland’s response was to go back to the basics and soon afterwards, they dominated set pieces and possession. This was helped by the Italians committing a number of unforced errors in the opening fifteen minutes, gifting Ireland territory inside the opposition 22.

A lineout, thrown in by Neve Jones, gave Ireland the possession they needed to score their first try. After the ball went in, the maul pushed Italy onto their goal-line, and it quickly released. At the end of a succession of passes was an unmarked Lucy Mulhall.

After the wind carried Nicole Cronin’s conversion wide, the Irish defence impressed with some fine tackles to halt the Italian response. Jones and Stacey Flood were fantastic here, with the latter picking off a pass which gave Ireland back possession.

They finished the first half with a flourish after Nicole Cronin put the ball out for a lineout, just meters from the corner. This was the start of a strong period of possession inside the Italian 22 and after a strong maul Jones drove the ball over for the second try of the evening.

Ireland had a perfect start to the second half as a chipped ball was collected by Eve Higgins and she sprinted over the goal-line. Nicole Cronin split the posts with the conversion and it went 17-3.

Eight minutes later, a penalty try was awarded to Ireland after issues with the Italian scrum, making the score 24-3.

With such a commanding lead, Greg McWilliams emptied the bench for the twenty remaining minutes of the game. The injection of fresh legs didn’t disrupt Ireland’s attacking rhythm and following a small incursion by the Italians into the Irish half, the home side dominated once more.

Then Aoife Wafer, who came off the bench for her Ireland debut, was sent to the sin-bin. The slight advantage gave Italy room to score their first try. It was Melissa Bettoni who got this over the line though the conversion was missed.

A lineout, thrown in by Emma Hooban, was knocked down to Katie O’Dwyer’s hands with two minutes left. She caught the ball and with no resistance, she leapt in to score.

Long after the final whistle, Greg McWilliams; was beaming after his team’s performance in Cork.

“It’s a good feeling,” he said, “As I said before the game, we’ve a group of players who worked exceptionally hard and it is good to get rewards for that. There is more to come.

“To be able to get the win with this group of players means a lot of momentum. I think everybody needed the win. There is a bit of pressure on so it is good that they challenged that pressure and came out on top.

“Without playing terrific rugby the managed the ball well and they managed to score some tries. It was good to get the win.”

“We’re pleased how we handled the conditions I thought we has some good carries in the first half. I thought our nine and 10 controlled the game well. It was also good to use the entire bench.”

Ireland: L Mulhall; A-L Murphy Crowe; E Higgins, S Flood, B Parsons; N Cronin, K Dane; L Djougang, N Jones, C Haney; N Fryday, S Monaghan; D Wall, E McMahon, H O'Connor.

Replacements: B Hogan for N Fryday, A Water for D Wall, and A Doyle for B Parsons (All 61 mins), K O'Dwyer for C Haney (60 mins), E Breen for A-L Murphy Crowe (63 mins), C Pearse for L Djougang (65 mins), A Reilly for K Dane (69 mins).

Italy: V-O Minuzzi; M Furlan, A D'Inca, B Rigoni, M Magatti; V Madia, S Barattin; G Maris, M Bettoni, L Gai; S Tounesi, Va Fedrighi; B Veronese, I Locatelli, E Giordano.

Replacements: S Stefan for V Madia (40 mins), A Frangipani for I Locatelli (52 mins), V Vecchini for G Maris (59 mins), A Margotti for S Tounesi (72 mins), M Bettoni for E Stecca (76 mins), S Seye for L Gai (76 mins).

Referee: A Groizeleau