Irish Rugby

Matt Williams has named an unchanged team for Saturday’s RBS Six Nations visit by Ireland, stating that they were “robbed blind” losing 16-9 to France (couldn’t agree with him more!!)

Danielli and White had been injury doubts, but will now face Ireland at Murrayfield.

“This is justified reward for the positive effort from all who were involved in Paris.

“We said before the France game that a brave loss was not acceptable and the players haven’t accepted it - there was a lot of emotion in the changing room after the match.

“Those feelings are combined with the fact that we can mix it with the best teams in the world. But, at the end of the day, we didn’t get the points.

“Whether you win, lose or draw, by Monday night the players have put the game behind them and they are fully focused on the next task. That task is Ireland here at Murrayfield on Saturday.”

The Scotland coach was critical of touch-judge Simon McDowell and referee Nigel Williams for decisions made in the Stade de France. But the Australian maintains he has no concerns about French official Joel Jutge, who will take charge for the visit of the Irish.

A laughing Williams stressed: “I support all officials - as always.”

O’Driscoll was orginally name in the line-up against Scotland, but has failed to recover from the hamstring injury he picked up against Italy at the weekend.

His replacement will be named after training on Friday morning.

Gordon D’Arcy is also struggling with a hamstring injury and will take a fitness test on Friday.

Replacements?

Kevin Maggs is the most obvious replacement at centre, and Shane Horgan could also be moved from wing. Wing Tommy Bowe (Ulster) could also be asked to travel with the squad to Scotland as a precautionary measure.

The only other change to the Ireland side sees Wasps flanker Johnny O’Connor replacing Denis Leamy. O’Connor will be winning his third cap after making his debut in the victory over South Africa last November.

Ireland:
Murphy, Horgan, TBC, D’Arcy, Hickie, O’Gara, Stringer, Corrigan, Byrne, Hayes, O’Kelly, O’Connell, S Easterby, O’Connor, Foley. Replacements: Sheahan, Horan, O’Callaghan, Miller, G Easterby, Humphreys, Dempsey.

O’Driscoll magic guides Ireland to a hard earned victory against Italy, with classic outside breaks from the Ireland captain setting up tries for Geordan Murphy and Peter Stringer.

Italy led 9-8 early in the second half but Stringer’s try gave Ireland a lead they never lost The hosts cut the gap to 18-12 with 10 minutes left and nearly scored through Ludovico Nitoglia, but Denis Hickie’s try ensured an Irish victory.

Italy cam out with a flying start and quickly took a penalty lead after seven minutes through Luciano Orquera. The Italians were pounding the Irish defence and, for the first quarter, the Irish pack struggled to secure any ball for their backs.

Just before the half-hour mark, O’Driscoll created a sparkling try for Murphy. The Ireland captain ran a dummy scissors and made a magical outside break before drawing the full-back and putting the diving Murphy in at the corner. O’Gara missed the twice-taken conversion and the visitors found themselves trailing once again.

Roland de Marigny took over the kicking duties for Italy from the hapless Orquera, and landed a penalty either side of the break to put Italy into a 9-8 lead.

The only Ireland player offering a real threat was O’Driscoll, and it was his break that set up the second try for the visitors. Shane Horgan threw an overhead pass as he was about to be forced into touch and Stringer scooted over, with O’Gara landing the tricky conversion.

A penalty apiece saw Ireland leading 18-12 as the game entered the final quarter, but they were lucky to survive when Italy launched a series of attacks. Winger Nitoglia dropped the ball as he reached for the line and Italy nearly rumbled over from a driving maul.

An O’Gara penalty put Ireland more than a converted try ahead and they made the game safe when Hickie latched onto an inside pass from Murphy and crossed for a converted try.

O’Driscoll limped off late on, joining centre partner Gordon D’Arcy on the sidelines, and the final word went to Italy.

Prop Martin Castrogiovanni powered over for a try which was fitting reward for an Italian pack which had kept the Irish under pressure throughout.

Italy:
De Marigny; Mi Bergamasco, Canale, Masi, Nitoglia; Orquera, Troncon; Lo Cicero, Ongaro, Castrogiovanni; Dellape, Bortolami; Persico, Ma Bergamasco, Parisse.
Replacements: Perugini, Intoppa, Del Fava, Dal Maso, Griffen, Pozzebon, Robertson.

Ireland:
Murphy, Horgan, O’Driscoll, D’Arcy, Hickie, O’Gara, Stringer, Corrigan, Byrne, Hayes, O’Kelly, O’Connell, S Easterby, Leamy, Foley.
Replacements: Sheahan, Horan, O’Callaghan, Miller, G Easterby, Humphreys, Dempsey.

Referee: P O’Brien (New Zealand)

Ireland are set to resume ‘A’ internationals, after their last game was in 2003 - Eddie O’Sullivan was keen to have another platform for player development and hopeful international players.

The Six Natons ‘A’ series was discontinued last season when Scotland and Wales pulled out due to financial constraints.

Their first game will be against France A at Donnybrook on 11th March.

An injury time drop goal by O’Gara stole victory for Ireland at Lansdowne. O’Gara kicked all of Ireland’s points, with two dropped goals and five penalties.

Playing into a strong wind and rain, Ireland came second best in tight situations. O’Gara’s boot kept them in touch rather than any running plays.

Ireland showed great composure to get themselves into a position to allow O’Gara to thump over a massive drop goal to complete a tremendous, if fortuitous, comeback.

Ireland: G Dempsey; G Murphy, B O’Driscoll (capt), S Horgan, D Hickie; R O’Gara, P Stringer; R Corrigan, S Byrne, J Hayes, M O’Kelly, P O’Connell, S Easterby, J O’Connor, A Foley.
Replacements: F Sheahan, M Horan or E Byrne, D O’Callaghan, E Miller, G Easterby, D Humphreys, K Maggs.

Argentina: JM Hernández; L Borges, FM Aramburu, M Contepomi, H Senillosa; F Contepomi, A Pichot (capt); R Roncero, M Ledesma, O Hasan, R Alvarez, P Albacete, M Durand, L Ostiglia, G Longo.
Replacements: F Mendez, E Guiñazu, P Bouza, A Petrilli, NF Miranda, JF Miranda, GP Tiesi.

Referee: Tony Spreadbury (England).

Ireland: (6) 21
Pen: O’Gara 5
Dg: O’Gara 2

Argentina: (16) 19
Try: Aramburu
Con: Contepomi
Pens: Contepomi 4

Ireland maintained their challenge for the RBS Six Nations title with a comfortable victory over Italy.

Both sides struggled in the very windy conditions but Ireland’s superior class saw them home.

They ran in three tries through Malcolm O’Kelly, Brian O’Driscoll and Shane Horgan, while Italy’s only points came from a Roland de Marigny penalty.

Ireland could still win the title, but they have a much worse points difference than England or France.

O’Driscoll’s try was his 24th for Ireland and saw him reclaim the Irish try-scoring record from Denis Hickie.

The match started in unusual fashion as Italy deliberately failed to send the kick-off the required 10 yards.

That gave Ireland, who had the wind at their backs in the first half, the put-in at the scrum, and when Italy collapsed O’Gara tried his luck with a penalty from halfway.

The ball drifted wide in the blustery conditions and it set the tone for a frustrating 20 minutes for the Irish.

They dominated territory and possession but could not get any points on the board as a combination of gritty Italian defence and Irish mistakes kept them at bay.

But just as Ireland began to grow frustrated Italy handed them the first score.

Replacement hooker Carlo Festuccia took a low throw-in at a line-out when his fellow forwards were not expecting it.

Unfortunately for Italy O’Kelly was and he pounced to open the Irish account after 26 minutes.

Seven minutes later O’Driscoll edged Ireland further ahead with his 24th try for Ireland.

When he received the ball there looked to be little on but the Irish captain cut back to the blind side and dummied his way over for a fine score.

O’Gara kicked an excellent conversion to make it 12-0 but before half-time the fly-half missed a very kickable penalty.

However, O’Gara redeemed himself 10 minutes into the second half, firing a flat pass across the Italy defence to send Horgan over by the posts. O’Gara’s conversion made it 19-0.

Italy spurned a glorious chance to hit back after 56 minutes when Denis Dallan dropped a pass a couple of yards from the tryline.

But with the wind at their backs Italy were looking more threatening and their hopes were boosted when O’Driscoll was sin-binned for a high tackle.

They finally got on the scoreboard after 67 minutes when Roland De Marigny slotted a penalty but that was that for the visitors.

They pounded away but could not break the Irish line, and it was the hosts who looked more incisive when they had the ball.

They launched a couple of long-range attacks but the strong wind meant they rarely got close enough to the Italian line to add to their tally.

Teams

Ireland
Dempsey, Horgan, D’Arcy, O’Driscoll (capt), Murphy, O’Gara, Stringer; Corrigan, Byrne, Hayes, O’Kelly, O’Callaghan, Easterby, Gleeson, Foley.
Replacements
Sheahan, Horan, Longwell, Costello, Humphreys, Easterby, Maggs.

Italy

Canale, Mazzucato, Stoica, Barbini, D Dallan; de Marigny, Griffen; Lo Cicero, Ongaro, Castrogiovanni, Checchinato, Bortolami, de Rossi (capt), Persico, Palmer.

Replacements
Festuccia, Perugini, Dellape, Mandelli, Picone, Masi, Mi Bergamasco.

England suffered their first home loss since 1999 as Ireland stunned the world champions at Twickenham.

The home side scored the only try of the first half through Matt Dawson but four penalties from Ronan O’Gara gave Ireland a 12-10 lead at the break.

Full-back Girvan Dempsey crossed in the corner to put Ireland further in front although Paul Grayson kept England in the match with a 66th-minute penalty.

England pressurised late on but could not come back despite a frantic finish.

The tension of the occasion was felt by both sides as they walked out at Twickenham, and the opening exchanges were nervy and scrappy.

England, playing their first competitive game at home since winning the World Cup, were under pressure at the set pieces from the off and were therefore unable to get their backs in play.

The line-out was the biggest problem and it allowed the visitors to dominate much of the opening period.

reland should have taken the lead after just five minutes but fly-half Ronan O’Gara missed a simple penalty from in front of the posts although he made up for his error with four penalties before the break.

England, whose attacking force was blunted by Ireland’s forwards, got on the scoreboard after superb work at an Ireland scrum.

Munster scrum-half Peter Stringer was hassled and with the ball loose, the impressive Paul Grayson fed to Matt Dawson, who touched down under the posts.

After what was probably a dressing down from coach Sir Clive Woodward at the break, England came out firing in the second half and Ben Cohen went over only for the video referee to rule out the try for a double movement.

The let-off seemed to inspire Ireland and Brian O’Driscoll made a superb break, the ball was spread wide and Leinster full-back Girvan Dempsey crossed over in the corner.

Although England’s line-out remained poor, they never gave up and substitute Mark Regan thought he crossed but he was pushed out of bounds before he could ground the ball.

Grayson added a penalty to make the score 19-13 and despite some late pressure, England could not break down the stubborn Irish.

Teams

England
Balshaw (Bath), Lewsey (Wasps), Robinson (Sale), Greenwood (Harlequins), Cohen (Northampton), Grayson (Northampton), Dawson (Northampton); Woodman (Gloucester), Steve Thompson (Northampton), Vickery (Gloucester), Borthwick (Bath ), Kay (Leicester), Worsley (Wasps), Hill (Saracens), Dallaglio (Wasps, capt).
Replacements

Regan (Leeds Tykes), Stevens (Bath), Jones (Sale), Back (Leicester), Gomarsall (Gloucester), Barkley (Bath), Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester).

Ireland
Dempsey (Leinster), Horgan (Leinster), D’Arcy (Leinster), O’Driscoll (Leinster, capt), Howe (Ulster), O’Gara (Munster), Stringer (Munster); Corrigan (Leinster), Byrne (Leinster), Hayes (Munster), O’Kelly (Leinster), O’Connell (Munster), Easterby (Llanelli), Gleeson (Leinster), Foley (Munster).

Replacements
Sheahan (Munster), Best (Ulster), Longwell (Ulster), Costello (Leinster), Humphreys (Ulster), Easterby (Rotherham), Maggs (Bath).