For the 16 minutes in the first half between Ireland’s first and second tries, much of what is good about what coach Andy Farrell has instilled into the team was on show. At the heart of it was Jack Crowley, who scored the first Irish try and then provided an assist for hooker Dan Sheehan.
During that period alone Crowley, as well as Robbie Henshaw and Hugo Keenan, were alive to the possibilities that Italy allowed them. Keenan’s mark deep in the Ireland half and his gallop up the park to the halfway line was the trigger for Crowley’s first try.
Not only did the Irish outhalf pull his arms over the head of a tackling Italian player for a beautiful offload but he hauled himself off the ground to take up a supporting line and receive the ball back from Craig Casey before breaking the ice and running in after eight minutes.
About 16 minutes later Crowley was to the fore again. Later he would go to fullback on 56 minutes, when Kennan was taken off after a heavy fall earlier in the match - but before that Crowley popped a no-look pass to Keenan and, when the ball swung back across the pitch, he gave a one-handed offload to Henshaw, followed by another fantastic offload from the centre to a supporting Stuart McCloskey, who gifted the Irish hooker a simple run-in for the first of his two tries.
Between those two perfect moments there was scrappy play from Ireland and the team struggled to be clinical. James Lowe was hit on the chest by Casey and the passes in midfield were not sticking, with the Irish timing a little off and mistakes creeping in. There had been significant change in personnel across the team, and it showed.
To Ireland’s credit, there was no panic and Crowley, even after scuffing his first kick at goal to convert his own try, showed poise. The miss didn’t disrupt his attitude and the swagger he brought into that opening period. That aspect of his play was much more evident against the lesser Italians than it had been against France in Marseilles last week.
He showed character and ambition. Even taking a ball in his own half, his instinct was to dummy a pass and step to the side of the onrushing Italian threat. Henshaw showed similar boldness and a willingness to force himself into the game and make something happen.
The first two tries gave Ireland confidence and protected them from becoming frustrated. The worst possible thing Ireland could have done then would have been to invite Italy into the match as the Under 20s had done on Friday night in Cork.
For the younger players their poor first half almost cost them the match as Italy inflated and sensed they had a chance to win. After a totally dominant 40 minutes, the game became a frantic backs-against-the-wall defensive effort to hold out a team they should have beaten out of the park.
The senior players did not allow that to happen. Italy barely fired a shot throughout the match.
Crowley, although he missed a conversion and had a clearance kick blocked, blossomed after Farrell gave license to his players to try to play rugby, to be as good as they can be.
