Italy lose out to the Irish

8:00 By HUGH GODWIN

The rebirth of Irish back play continues, but the emergence of Italy as worthy Six Nations participants, seemingly hailed by last year's opening win over Scotland, has been sadly stillborn with a 22-41 defeat by Ireland yesterday.

The hosts made around 12,000 joyous Irish travellers welcome in the Eternal City but finished the match depleted in number on the field, with their scrum-half Alessandro Troncon sent off for flooring his Ireland counterpart Peter Stringer with a right hook.

Rob Henderson's hat-trick of tries in the space of 20 minutes either side of the interval matched the feat of his fellow centre Brian O'Driscoll in Ireland's previous away championship match, in France last March.

Henderson's pace and eye for the chance made light of O'Driscoll's absence with a shoulder injury, and two more tries in the last quarter by Shane Horgan and Ronan O'Gara made it a nap hand for Ireland's boisterous backs.

Yet the fact that Ireland were able to score a comfortable first-day victory, their first in the Championship for 13 years, must fill the Italians with immediate dread of a whitewash in their second Six Nations season.

They have three away matches and the visit of Wales here in which to avoid that fate.

Ireland adroitly avoided too much confrontation with Italy's capable front five, for in the few scrummages that took place the green jerseys were often in a spin.

Instead, the Irish played it fast and loose with O'Gara and Stringer, who had already been spear-tackled by Troncon and laid out by a late charge from Mauro Bergamasco before the 76th-minute sending off, calling the tune.

They also shrugged off the blow of conceding a try deep into first-half injury-time, awarded for the first time in the championship with the help of the television match official.

The city of the Ancients ushered in the modern when England's Ed Morrison, playing the imperial role high in the stands, gave the metaphorical thumbs up to Carlo Checchinato's twist of the body as he crashed through Ireland's cover to finish off a dart by Troncon.

Morrison, who has been dropped from the A-list of Six Nations referees this season, was not to be rushed, and viewed at least half a dozen camera angles before advising the South African referee Jonathan Kaplan by radio link to award the try.

Raniro Pez, who learned on Friday morning that he was to win his sixth cap when his fellow Argentine convert Diego Dominguez finally succumbed to a groin injury, converted to give Italy heart, trailing 15-19 at half-time.

In truth, however, the pivotal moment had come in Ireland's favour a few minutes earlier. The Scottish touch judge Rob Dickson called Kaplan's attention to illegal use of the boot at a ruck by Andrea Muraro and the prop was sent to the sinbin.

O'Gara put the penalty to touch, Malcolm O'Kelly won the line-out and Henderson, running from deep behind O'Gara's right shoulder, took a lovely angle off the outside half to trace an arcing, 50-metre run to the line.

Moments after O'Gara had successfully converted, Italy were to regret again Muraro's indiscretion. Giampiero de Carli left the bench to hurriedly make up the numbers at a scrummage on halfway and the domino effect was the withdrawal of the No 8, David dal Maso.

That left a gap which David Wallace cleverly exploited with a quick break, eating up the ground before Italy killed a ruck and O'Gara's fourth penalty goal of the half pushed Ireland out to 19-8. The Irish had scored 10 rapid-fire points and effectively taken control of a match that had hitherto been in the melting pot.

Henderson had scored a try hat-trick as an emergency flyhalf for his club, Wasps, earlier this season, and he was in sizzling if more orthodox form here.

He more than doubled his previous total of tries for Ireland with a simple run-in from a sumptuous flat pass by O'Gara three minutes into the second half, then by winning a chase to the left corner in pursuit of a kick-ahead from Tyrone Howe. It might have been a penalty try in any case, because Howe had been taken out late by Cristian Stoica in a signal of growing Italian indiscipline.

Italy were unfortunate that Corrado Pilat twisted an ankle in the act of scoring a 27th-minute try, and was taken off having previously kicked a penalty goal. His kicking duties passed to Pez but he potted only two of five subsequent shots at goal.

O'Gara was unable to match his 12 from 13 in the 60-13 win over Italy last year, but his try in the left corner after 78 minutes meant Ireland could comfortably accommodate a stint in the sinbin for Peter Clohessy and Bergamasco's last-gasp try under the posts.