Italy 16-26 Ireland: Reigning champions fight back to earn Six Nations victory over hosts

These are worrying times for Ireland. For the third Six Nations round in a row, this squad will return to camp with more questions than answers.

Why are they so sluggish in the early stages of games? Are they too predictable? Is this a pre-World Cup dip or a team in decline? Are Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton past their best?

There are some irrefutable truths. Ireland cannot go into a World Cup game without Devin Toner, their lineout operation looks vulnerable without him while Rory Best remains Ireland’s frontline hooker. 

Young winger Jacob Stockdale roars over the whitewash early on as Ireland appear to be cruising

Luca Morisi’s try late in the first half ensured the hosts would go in at half time with a surprise lead of four points

Everything else is up for debate.

Ireland lacked rhythm in the early stages again yesterday. Sean O’Brien fumbled the kick-off, Jacob Stockdale juggled a stray pass on the touchline and Murray knocked on. Error was being compounded by error.

This was Peter O’Mahony’s first Six Nations game as captain and he led from the front, winning a penalty on the deck when Andrea Lovotti got isolated.

Speaking of championship bows, Sean Cronin, Dave Kilcoyne and Ultan Dillane were getting their first Six Nations starts. Cronin’s promotion was the most remarkable, given he has made 67 appearances for Ireland and at 32 years of age, for good measure.

Going back to his days at the helm with Leinster, Schmidt always had a reluctance to rely on Cronin, preferring to send him on in the latter stages of games as an impact sub. There was some insight into Schmidt’s thinking in the first-half when Cronin twice missed his targets at the tail of the lineout. 

The first wayward throw occurred with Ireland’s first lineout of the game deep in Italian territory. Toner’s stock continues to rise. Niall Scannell also got a bad case of the lineout yips when he replaced Cronin in the second-half. Big issues there. 

Ireland backrow Peter O’Mahony soars highest to claim a lineout as Italy put up a fight on their home turf

Fly-half Johnny Sexton was selected to start for the reigning hosts in their third Six Nations fixture of the campaign

Ireland eventually settled down and they soon had their first try of the afternoon. It took 19 phases – with almost every player getting carrying the ball- but Quinn Roux rumbled over for the first try of the game. The South African-born lock would have given a nod to Chris Farrell on his way back to the halfway line after scoring that, it was the Munster midfielder’s big bust which laid the platform for that one.

If Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose remain fit and get themselves on the plane to Japan, you would imagine they will be Schmidt’s first-choice centre pairing at the World Cup.

Bundee Aki and Farrell look a decent combination as well. Their partnership was cut short early however, with Aki – so durable across his fledgling 14-cap career thus far- leaving the field with a head injury in the 13th minute.

Farrell stated after the Scotland game that he would love to get the opportunity to play at inside centre under Schmidt’s watch. Covering several positions ticks a big box when Schmidt is in charge. Farrell found himself at 12 very early yesterday when Aki left the action with Keith Earls moving off the wing to fill the void at outside centre. Andrew Conway entered the fray as Schmidt was forced into an early and unplanned backline reshuffle. 

Ireland’s supporters turned out in large numbers for a match at the Stadio Olimpico they expected to win comfortably 

Try scorer Keith Earls races away from the Italian defence as Ireland struggle to assert control of the game

Ireland found themselves under pressure soon after with Tommaso Allen making it 7-3 from the tee.

Stockdale really has the killer instinct. When Italy made a mess of taking the restart, the prolific Ulster wing was there to scoop up the loose ball and race away for his 14th try in 17 games.

News soon filtered in that Aki had failed his HIA meaning Earls would be staying at centre. The Munster veteran is very much a wing these days, but he would need to do a job.

Another Allan penalty chipped away at Ireland’s lead and the Azzurri soon clicked into gear with a brilliant spell heading towards the break.

First, Tito Tebaldi went scything through after taking a quick tap penalty. Rob Kearney can count himself very lucky after he looked to have checked the Italian scrum-half off the ball as he chipped ahead. Soon after, Dean Budd made a burst through the defence thanks to a brilliant offolad from fellow Kiwi Jayden Hayward. It was ominous how often the hosts were puncturing Ireland’s defence.

Ireland were hemmed in and minutes later, Hayward was charging through with the try-line in sight. Earls’s last-ditch tackle halted the full-back’s progress, but the damage was done. From the next recycle, Allan found Edoardo Padovani in acres of space as the Italy wing cantered over for a well-worked score.

The lively Tebaldi was once again the catalyst for a stunning 80-metre counter-attack. Amid all the mayhem and despite Maxime Mbanda botching an overlap, Luca Morisi burrowed his way over and Italy went charging down the tunnel with a 16-12 half-time lead. They were full value for it as well.

Schmidt’s message at half-time must have been short and sharp, his squad were back on the field very early for the second-half and they went back to basics. This group has plenty of issues at present, but they can still retain the ball for long periods of time. After another flurry of rucks, Earls weaved his way throug some heavy traffic to score. Sexton’s conversion restored Ireland’s lead. They badly needed that.

Leading Italy by three points on the hour mark was not in the script. In the corresponding Six Nations fixture in Dublin last year, Ireland lead 49-7 at this point in the game. This did not look like a team ranked second in the world playing a team ranked 15th, just two places above Uruguay in the standings.

The next play summed up Ireland’s day. Quick ball off the lineout allowed Sexton to run a smart backline move with Farrell’s deft pass sending Earls into open country, but Stockdale could not take his pass with the line at his mercy.

Schmidt has spoken of ‘accuracy’ and ‘cohesion’ constantly in recent weeks. Once again, it was sorely lacking.

When Murray touched down off the back of a surging lineout maul, Ireland finally had some breathing space and the bonus-point. Neither seemed likely for much of the afternoon.

Fittingly, it finished with Jack Carty – on for his Test debut – fumbling a Stockdale pass after the Ireland wing had burst clear.

Worrying times, indeed.