CJ Stander scored a hat-trick as Ireland claimed a 63-10 win against Italy in Rome on Saturday. SIMON BORCHARDT reports.
Before this Six Nations match, there was a minute's applause to honour the late Joost van der Westhuizen. It was an emotional moment, even more so for Stander, who was presented with his first Bulls jersey by the Springbok legend back in 2010.
Stander went on to honour Joost on the field too, with yet another Man of the Match performance for his adopted nation. He became the first player in the history of the Six Nations to score a bonus-point try (sure to be a future pub quiz question) and the first Ireland player to score a Six Nations hat-trick since Brian O'Driscoll in 2002.
Ireland needed a convincing performance at Stadio Olimpico following last weekend's disappointing loss to Scotland, and they would achieve it without captain Rory Best, who was ruled out just before kick-off due to an illness.
Ireland's pack made a strong start to the game, winning a penalty at the first scrum. So it was no surprise when the visitors turned down penalty shots at goal and instead opted for 5m scrums in an attempt to score a try.
Ireland's forwards bashed away at the tryline, but couldn't get over, before Simon Zebo lost the ball over the line. But Italy's defence was eventually breached in the 12th minute when Keith Earls rounded off an overlap to score a converted try.
Carlo Canna got the Azzurri on the board soon after with a penalty goal, but Ireland surged back on to the attack, with Zebo sucking in the defenders and Stander going over in the left-hand corner.
Earls' second try in the 25th minute came in similar fashion to his first, and Paddy Jackson nailed his third conversion to make it 21-3.
Italy hit back with a penalty try after Ireland collapsed a lineout driving maul, and Donnacha Ryan was yellow-carded. But the 14-man visitors responded almost immediately when Stander crashed over for his second try.
The 26-year-old then dived over in the left-hand corner just five minutes into the second half to secure his hat-trick.
Ireland would have to wait until the 68th minute to cross the line again, through Craig Gilroy, who cut back inside past three defenders to score.
Garry Ringrose dotted down soon after, before a kick ahead by Stander resulted in another try to Gilroy.
The replacement then secured his hat-trick in the last play of the game as Ireland went past the 60-point mark.
Italy – Try: Penalty try. Conversion: Carlo Canna. Penalty: Canna.
Ireland – Tries: Keith Earls (2), CJ Stander (3), Craig Gilroy (3), Garry Ringrose. Conversions: Paddy Jackson (9).
Italy – 15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Luke Mclean, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Maxime Mbanda, 5 Andries van Schalkwyk, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lovotti.
Subs: 16 Ornel Gega, 17 Sami Panico, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 George Biagi, 20 Abraham Steyn, 21 Giorgio Bronzini, 22 Tommaso Allan, 23 Michele Campagnaro.
Ireland – 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Cian Healy.
Subs: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 John Ryan, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Ian Keatley, 23 Craig Gilroy.
Photo: Stephen McCarthy/Getty Images
