GILBERT Ireland International Replica Rugby Ball , 5 - Ireland

Product Information

They have earned the right to start," said Farrell. "And, from what we have seen so far, it's been a good start to the week. The reality is, this is our third game of the competition and we expect it to be our best performance of the competition. That's how it should be and that's what we are aiming for." Is this the best Italy team he has faced, Clarke asks Aki: “They have always been a good team, they play with a lot of passion, you can see they want to play the game, they want to play expansive rugby and run the ball from the own try-line … we knew that, we just fell off a bit.”

Rugby today is a game of inches. Do I think we could have won that game? Yes I do. But we didn’t. That’s all there is to it.” Italy: A Capuozzo; E Padovani, J I Brex, T Menoncello (L Morisi 78), P Bruno; L Garbisi (T Allan 72), S Varney (A Fusco 67); D Fischetti (F Zani 61), G Nicotera (L Bigi 61), S Ferrari (M Riccioni 47), N Cannone (G Pettinelli 65), F Ruzza, S Negri, M Lamaro, L Cannone (I Iachizzi 65) Replacements: Ox Nche (Sharks) for Kitshoff, RG Snyman (Munster) for Mostert, Jean Kleyn (Munster) for Etzebeth, Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) for Weisse (all 49 mins); Marco van Staden (Bulls) for Kolisi (52), Trevor Nyakane (Racing 92) for Malherbe (63); Deon Fourie (Stormers) for Mbonambi (64); Cobus Reinach (Montpellier) for De Klerk (75). Speaking specifically of Byrne, he continued: "He's been great. He's earned the right to run the team and transfer everything that we have seen in training to a performance that's got authority and takes his team with him."

TRENDING NOW

An estimated 24,000 travelled over from Ireland, and while there was a strong contingent of Springbok supporters it still looked about four to one in Irish tops. Unlike the Aviva, even Ireland’s Call thundered around the cantilever stands. Scoring: 0-5 Ryan try; 5-5 Varney try; 7-5 Garbisi con; 7-10 Keenan try; 7-12 Byrne con; 10-12 Garbisi pen; 10-17 Aki try; 10-19 Byrne con; 10-24 Hansen try; 15-24 Bruno try; 17-24 Garbisi; 20-24 Garbisi pen; 20-27 Byrne pen; 20-32 Hansen try; 20-34 Byrne con Replacements: Walker, M Vunipola, Cole, Isiekwe, B Curry, Mitchell, Smith, Marchant. Match officials With Sheehan having given Ireland a much-needed shot in the arm, things went from bad to worse for England on the cusp of half-time when Steward was sent off after colliding with Hugo Keenan.

They might have had more, but after successfully going to the corner and launching Aki, Ryan was forced into a fumble. At half-time it was only 7-3, but the crowd responded as if watching an epic. A lot of the pre-match talk in Ireland had revolved around Ross Byrne, standing in for captain Johnny Sexton. He did perfectly well, although Ireland certainly missed Sexton’s reassuring presence.

SCORING SEQUENCE – 6 mins: Libbok pen, 3-0; 33: Hansen try, Sexton con, 3-7 ( half-time, 3-7); 51: Kolbe try, 8-7; 59: Sexton pen, 8-10; 77: Crowley pen, 8-13. Welcome to the Aviva Stadium for our live blog of Ireland’s opening game in the Bank of Ireland Nations Series – the first of three warm-up matches on the road towards next month’s World Cup in France. Ultimately, Ireland’s Grand Slam bid goes on. A five-try bonus point win making it three from three for the men in green. But this was far squeakier than anyone really expected. Here are the teams for tonight’s game in the Aviva. Several Irish players playing for a spot on the World Cup squad.

The loss of Finlay Bealham to a twisted knee in the first half was a blow. With Tadhg Furlong already out injured, Ireland’s tighthead reserves are certainly being stretched. But this is what Farrell wanted in a World Cup year - the chance to prove that Ireland are not reliant on Sexton, or Furlong, or anyone.

Sometimes the Boks threw two men into the air, and including a crooked throw and two more which eluded James Ryan, Ireland effectively lost five of their first eight throws. There was all sorts of manic toing and froing in the endgame before Libbok drilled a penalty from halfway to the corner, but an imposing drive was eventually stopped and held up. Despite being tested by a resilient English side, Ireland - as they have so often done under Andy Farrell - found a way to win as they gave talismanic captain Johnny Sexton the perfect send-off in his final Six Nations match, even though his day ended early because of injury.