Jordan Larmour starred with a scintillating hat-trick of tries as Ireland stormed clear of Italy in the second half to post a 54-7 win on their return to Chicago’s Soldier Field.
A 35,051-strong crowd watched Joe Schmidt’s men take part in the Rugby Weekend triple header, two years from their historic win over New Zealand at the same venue. A much-changed line-up meant prop Jack McGrath was the only starter retained from that game.
Tries from impressive lock Tadhg Beirne, on his first start, and Luke McGrath had Ireland leading Italy 14-7 at half-time, with captain Michele Campagnaro claiming a late intercept score for the Azzurri, who were without a number of their first-choice players.
The Ireland coaches also took the opportunity test their squad’s depth, with all 23 players getting match minutes and Ross Byrne and Will Addison making their debuts entering the final quarter. A dominant second half saw the men in green run in six unanswered tries through Beirne, man-of-the-match Jordan Larmour, replacement Sean Cronin and Garry Ringrose.
Fleet-footed 21-year-old full-back Larmour stole the show with a superb trio of scores on his first start, as well as an assist for McGrath’s try. Beirne also caught the eye with his brace and diligent work around the pitch, while young out-half Joey Carbery finished with 10 points thanks to five well-struck conversions.
The victory gave Ireland a winning start to the November internationals, which continue with next Saturday’s GUINNESS Series opener against Argentina back at the Aviva Stadium (kick-off 6.30pm). It also extended Rhys Ruddock’s winning streak as an Ireland captain to five Tests.
Giving his reaction to the eight-try triumph afterwards, Ruddock said: “There’s parts of the performance that we’re disappointed with and we know there will be loads to work on and build on. That’s kind of exciting when you look at the challenges we’ve got ahead.
“What was good was that when we went in at half-time and spoke about picking up the tempo and being a little more accurate, it felt like we delivered that. The guys coming off the bench added some real energy and impetus as well, so to work our way around that in the heat of the battle was really good and we’re happy with that. I still felt there was more in us, particularly in the first half.
“Every time Jordan gets the ball, he’s looking for opportunities. It’s unbelievably exciting. It’s just hard to keep up with him at times as a back row, we need to be on his shoulder to support him, but luckily he didn’t need too much help when he got those opportunities. He’s a quality player and it’ good to have him in your team.
“I wasn’t around last season when Tadhg was first around so it’s my first involvement with him in the squad. Obviously, I know him well from Leinster and playing against him when he was with the Scarlets and now Munster.
“I had a lot of respect for him anyway but having him in your team is certainly better than trying to deal with him on the opposition. He was quality again today, took his tries well and he just works really, really hard for the team.”
Heading Stateside with a 26-man squad, Ireland were quickly into their stride with kick-off receiver Jacob Stockdale shrugging off two Italian forwards and charging up past halfway. Debutant Johan Meyer came to Italy’s rescue with a tap tackle on Ringrose who managed to spin over the try-line but lost control of the ball under pressure from Campagnaro.
The try that Ireland’s fast start deserved came in the fourth minute, Carbery drilling a penalty into the left corner and Beirne stretching over from a few metres out, aided by support from Niall Scannell and Jack McGrath. After Carbery confidently dispatched the conversion, Italy got over the gain-line through Meyer, who was first to a Carlo Canna kick, and centre Campagnaro.
As play swung back into the Italian 22 via a Carbery charge-down, Ruddock and Andrew Porter were both stopped short of the line. The pack hammered away through a five-metre scrum and lineout before Carbery’s long pass was intercepted by Giulio Bisegni. Second row Quinn Roux showed his footballing skills with a well-weighted kick downfield, albeit that a prior knock-on kept Italy in the Irish half.
Canna’s fumbled pass spoiled a crisp three-man attack off a scrum, which brought Mattia Bellini in off his wing, and while George Biagi, replacement Cherif Traore and Braam Steyn carried hard to set up a try-scoring opportunity, the latter was denied by some smart defensive work by Ruddock in front of Ireland’s left-hand post.
Luke McGrath’s well-struck clearance, coupled with a crooked lineout throw from replacement Oliviero Fabiani, put Ireland back on the attack. The scrum halves both put boot to ball, Andrew Conway hoovering up Tito Tebaldi’s box-kick before Larmour’s sidestep and eye for a gap saw him spring through from the Italian 10-metre line and Luke McGrath, who was rewarded for his cross-pitch trail line, finished off to the left of the posts.
Ireland’s second converted try, in the 32nd minute, was cancelled out by Campagnaro who did well to read Ruddock’s inside pass and dart in behind the posts untouched. Stockdale, rising highest to claim a McGrath box-kick, had done well to help Ireland retain possession late on – with the winger’s subsequent tackle also winning a lineout – but the Italian skipper’s score cut the lead in half at the interval.
Nonetheless, Schmidt’s charges were the much sharper unit on the restart with Ruddock gobbling up a loose pass from Tebaldi. Incisive running from Beirne and Bundee Aki had Italy back defending on their five-metre line, and the Kildare man hurtled onto a Luke McGrath pass to reach over for his second try, past the covering Meyer.
Another wayward pass, this time from Campagnaro on the Irish 10-metre line, was swooped upon by Larmour who scampered clear up the left wing for his first international try. Carbery rifled over a testing conversion to make it 28-7, and a Beirne lineout steal, allied to prop Porter’s penalty win at the breakdown, allowed Ireland to quickly build again from deep.
Jack Conan, scrambling for every yard in a terrific performance at number 8, replacement Dave Kilcoyne and Beirne all carried impressively before Marco Fuser was penalised for a high tackle. A dropped pass foiled Ireland’s first wave as they sought out another try, but the forwards drove Italy off their own scrum ball, securing a penalty from which a lineout maul propelled Cronin over for a 55th-minute score, converted by Carbery.
Turnovers from Josh van der Flier and Aki prevented Italy from manufacturing a response, and after newcomers Byrne and Addison entered the fray, a prolonged spell near halfway ended with Ringrose drawing in two defenders and freeing up Larmour who expertly evaded both Steyn and Luca Sperandio to run in a classy second try with 63 minutes on the clock.
Dubliner and former Leinster out-half Ian McKinley came on to play against the country of his birth, but the Italians were in behind their posts again just a couple of minutes later. Quick ball supplied by Kilcoyne and Byrne saw Aki inject the pace on a diagonal run and he fed his centre partner Ringrose to run the final 22 metres and cross in the right corner.
Byrne’s sweet connection with the difficult conversion nudged Ireland onto 49 points, the bench being emptied with Ulster duo John Cooney and Jordi Murphy getting some decent game-time and a chance to press their claims for a starting berth.
The match appeared to be petering out with both sides’ progress halted by handling errors, until Larmour, who had just covered a dangerous kick in defence, unleashed his box of tricks in the final minute to leave Federico Ruzza, Sperandio, Tebaldi and Guglielmo Palazzani for dead on a stunning solo run from 60 metres out.
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