ITALY v IRELAND REACTION:A TAD battered and bruised, yet satisfied, most likely no one relished the ultra-physical exchanges which the Italians insist upon more than Stephen Ferris. A true man-of-the-match contender, the Ulster flanker seems to have grown physically this season and certainly has as an international player.
Not alone did he make the hard yards when they were at their hardest, he came up with perhaps the most critical play of the match in steaming onto Peter Stringer’s pass and offloading out of a double tackle for Luke Fitzgerald to bring first-half proceedings to a very telling halt.
“It was very tough, a very physical battle, but we always knew it was going to be like that.
“They have players like Castrogiovanni there, huge men, who bring a physical aspect to the game and I thought we coped well with it in patches. We showed a bit of class at the end.
“I really enjoyed it,” he said, with almost masochistic pleasure, or should that be sadistic?
“Playing against those big physical guys is what I like. It was a bit tight 10 minutes from half-time, there wasn’t that much rugby being played, but we got the breakthrough there at the end.”
Of his own big play, Ferris said: “I think Stringer heard me roaring from about 40 yards away coming around the corner!
“But he sold a small dummy and just left it up there, and Lukey followed me up nicely. It was a good team try and I’m pretty pleased with it.
“We knew they were starting to tire and if we could just get around that corner one more time, a wee gap opened and that’s all it takes at this level. Luke followed me and we went in at half-time up.”
Thereafter, he also felt Ireland’s superior fitness shone through. “I’m not sure, maybe it was a lack of fitness or something, they just seemed to go off the ball – mentally as well.
“For Lukey’s try they switched off and at this level it’s going to cost you.
“I thought they put up a really good fight and in the first-half I was impressed with them, their defence was very physical and you can’t underestimate guys like Parisse. I’ve a lot of respect for Italy.”
Brian O’Driscoll, and the other team leaders, could also derive satisfaction from the way they thought their way through things. “I think the key was being patient, knowing we’d have to break down the Italians as you do every time that you play them and waiting for our opportunities to come as they did in the last 10 or 15 minutes.
“It’s pleasing that we didn’t start very well, but that we grew into the game and the longer the game went on the better I thought we got.”
Now one of the team’s senior pros, O’Driscoll himself seems rejuvenated by the infusion of youth. “Once upon a time I was that young kid that was involved in the team too. So it’s just part of a team’s make-up that you have young enthusiastic guys breaking into the team and some more experienced heads to guide that transition.
“It’s great to have them; they’re very enthusiastic, they’re very skilful, they’re very motivated and they’re good professionals. It’s good to have that balance.”
Looking ahead to the visit of England, O’Driscoll said: “We’re where we want to be. We’ve played two games and we’ve won two games. Any time you come to Rome and you score 38 points, I think you ask any team in the Six Nations and they’ll take that.
“We’re pleased, but have plenty to work on which is a good place to be at. I don’t think we’ll be patting each other on the backs.
“We’ll have a lot of graft to put in this coming week and then the week of the England game, but it’s another big one to look forward to.”
Les Kiss, as defensive coach, was happy no tries were conceded but, as is his wont, saw things in a more holistic way.
“Certainly it’s always a good day if you don’t concede tries. I think more important was the mix of our game.
“Our setpiece helped at times in our defence, in crucially stopping their ball at source and the guys in the back three did really well when they had to in terms of cleaning.”
