Ireland scraped past Italy at Ravenhill in their final World Cup warm-up, scoring a try in the dying seconds to win 23-20 after struggling for most of the match.
Brendan Cole rates the player performances.
IRELAND v Italy: player ratings
15 GIRVAN DEMPSEY 7 One of the few players to emerge from the match with his reputation enhanced: safe under the high ball and a threat from deep, he secured his place as number one full back in the Irish pecking order.
14 GEORDAN MURPHY 5 Poor to middling for the most part, missing D’Arcy’s pass on one of the rare occasions when Ireland threatened out wide – although Murphy did manage to show some nice footwork and passing down the middle once or twice.
13 ANDREW TRIMBLE 5 Very much a mixed bag from the young Ulsterman; scored the first try and made Ronan O’Gara’s with a clever pass but struggled to make the sort of impact he would have wanted in general play. Both he and D’Arcy are hard to evaluate as the quality of the ball provided by the pack and 9-10 pair was often poor.
12 GORDON D’ARCY 6 Made good ‘second effort’ yardage even when seemingly swallowed up by the Italian defence although some ill advised offload attempts indicate that he isn’t quite tuned up to match play level yet.
11 DENIS HICKIE 5 Again a mixture. Some poor kicking, a suicidal pass to Dempsey and a failure to slip the ball to the same player when a try was on were the low points. Otherwise he was his usual self: calm, clever and quick.
10 RONAN O’GARA 5 Kicked well both into the wind and against it – including a steepling Garryowen that led to Ireland’s first try – and generally coped better than the Italian kickers. Struggled to get his backline moving though, and hard to know whether that saving try should count for or against! To be fair, when given a second chance he got the ball down.
9 PETER STRINGER 5 Didn’t supply his usual level of control or accuracy from the base of the ruck and kicked as moderately as usual. Poor ruck ball and his small physique meant he was easily scragged and bothered by marauding Italian forwards at times
8 DENIS LEAMY 7 Best Irish forward on the night – superior hands and ability to cope with the Italian’s strength made him a rallying point for his colleagues
7 NEIL BEST 5 Made some big hits but was outplayed by the Italian unit in terms of ensuring a slick supply of ball, from breakdown situations.
6 SIMON EASTERBY 5 Was he anonymous, or grafting quietly and effectively? Hard to know really – but generally struggled to contribute in a substantive way either via big tackles or turnovers at ruck time.
5 PAUL O’CONNELL 4 Captain on the night and so must take responsibility for Ireland frequently doing the wrong thing at the wrong time – they seemed to run it when they should have kicked and vice versa; could it be that Ireland are cleverer and more assured when O’Driscoll is steering? O’Connell also handled poorly on one or two occasions and just couldn’t match his usual high standards in general play.
4 DONNCHA O’CALLAGHAN 6 Some eye catching tackling – noticeable how when he went in Italy were turned over once or twice – and good lineout work, which, to be fair, O’Connell must be also credited for.
3 JOHN HAYES 5 To judge him on the setpieces, his key job, the scrum was a disaster at times while the lineout ran smoothly despite tough conditions. Hayes also managed some good hitting and stopping in the close exchanges.
2 RORY BEST 5 Threw the ball in very well all night but the scrum malaise must also be laid at his door. Managed to contribute some nice handling and clever play in the loose.
1 MARCUS HORAN 4 Martin Castrogiovanni gave him a torrid time in the scrums and his problems represent a massive worry heading into the world cup. To be fair, Ireland are probably psychologically behind Italy, who face New Zealand first up, and the scrum can be very much a mental thing. Ireland’s front three should, as they usually do, improve for the bigger games.
IRELAND BENCH 6 Malcolm O’Kelly made a real case for inclusion, getting on the ball and looking more dynamic than the Munster pair as Ireland chased the game while Jerry Flannery also showed up when he came on. Rest not on long enough to rate.
