Six Nations, Ireland beat Italy 34-20 at the Olimpico

At the Stadio Olimpico,

  match. This weekend also

.

In the standings, Ireland, with the victory over the blues, remains first in the standings with 15 points.

Scotland and England follow with 10, France 5, Italy 1 and Wales 0.

ANSA. it

Six Nations, Italy-Ireland 20-34 - Sport

Over 50,000 spectators at the Olimpico for the third day of the tournament (ANSA)

An Irish proverb says that an Irishman is never at peace except when he fights, and the third day of the 6 Nations 2023, played at the Olimpico between Italy and the clover nation, confirms it

.

The blue team, even with an extraordinary performance (and not without regrets for a couple of turnovers), fails to get the better of what is currently the best selection in the world (both the ranking and the pitch say so).

Italy had just returned from the defeat against England at Twickenham, and was looking for confirmation of that beautiful offensive maneuver seen at the debut against France.

He has found the confirmations, the bitterness of not having made the coup against the phenomena remains.

While the Olimpico becomes packed (and the green in the stands almost prevails over the blue), coach Crowley confirms Capuozzo as fullback and piazza Padovani and Bruno on the wings, with Garbisi, returning from injury, fly-half

.

After just a minute of play, Lowe's try was disallowed: just a scare for the blues, but 60 seconds later Ryan, the captain of the greens, scored a try and this time for real.

However, Italy's reaction was bold, as Crowley wanted: after a breakthrough by the unleashed Lorenzo Cannone, Varney found the first five points;

Garbisi transforms, Italrugby is in the game.

However, the Irish do very badly when they have the oval in their hands: Keenan punches the blue rearguard, and this time Byrne doesn't miss the kick between the posts.

In the moment of greatest difficulty (after Aki and Hansen's tries), Italy closed the first half with an encouraging 17-24 thanks to Pierre Bruno's escape, who intercepted Aki and ran away for 50 metres.

The second half begins and the blue dam seems to hold the strength of the green tide,

But luck didn't help Italrugby: after the three points signed by Byrne that bring Ireland back to seven, Brex with a kick-pass triggered Ruzza who didn't hit in goal due to a rebound.

The guests, meter after meter, unnerve the Italian lines and thus comes the second daily score by Hansen (voted Man of the match), which effectively ends the game.

It is the third defeat for Italy out of three matches at the 2023 6 Nations, but also the best (in terms of points) of the last four years.

After the match, the captain of the national team Michele Lamaro did not hide: "We conceded too much against France and England in the first minutes of the game, unfortunately today this trend was reconfirmed: we have to enter the field with a different attitude".

Also because in the second half Italy conceded very little to an Ireland "that we know is really cynical in the 22", continues the Roman.

Coach Crowley adds: "It's stressful because in the first 20 minutes we had too many players on points

match, and we had worked a lot on these situations". "We have to team up and focus on the first few minutes of the game, they're essential so we don't always have to chase", concludes Lamaro. However, the group is seeing results "and this gives us confidence.

We go out on the pitch to beat any opponent."