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Vittoria Vecchini scored two tries as Italy held off Ireland’s onslaught to triumph 27-21 in a Women’s Six Nations mystery in Dublin.
Vecchini crossed the line from close range in the 25th minute and repeated the trick in the second half after a very good break by winger Alyssa D’Inca at the RDS Arena. That second score gave the Azzurre a merit of 22-7 and then they led 27. -14 before the hosts returned strong, only to fail cruelly in their final battle.
Ireland took an early lead when Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi charged with a planned striker and it was sent to the trash, and referee Hollie Davidson awarded the home side a penalty try.
However, Vecchini’s two tries and extra scores from Valeria Fedrighi and winger Aura Muzzo turned the game in favour of the visitors, with Muzzo diving into the corner just minutes after seeing a control cancelled by TMO for an forward pass.
Ireland refused to throw in the towel, however, and Katie Corrigan intercepted a loose pass to run under the posts, leaving Dannah O’Brien with a conversion with a minute left to cut the deficit to six points.
Cheered on by a record crowd of 6,605, the home team struggled and fought their way up to two metres from the Italian line, only to lose the ball on the attack as Italy held on to win.
It’s the best reaction to their opening weekend against a conquering England and sees the Azzurre move up to third in the women’s Six Nations table after two rounds.
Full-back Lauren Delaney had to be stretchered off due to a neck injury shortly before half-time, but was later seen sitting among the Irish substitutes.