Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe’s try double, combined with a resolute defence, helped Ireland secure third place in the 2021 Women’s Six Nations thanks to an impressive victory over Italy.
The first course of a tasty-looking triple-header on Finals Day took a while to spark into life, with Dorothy Wall’s try and Stacey Flood’s penalty the only scores of an attritional first half.
But sevens superstar Murphy Crowe – making her first Ireland start – demonstrated that her skillset certainly translates to the 15-a-side game with a superb solo score early in the second 40 minutes and another right at the death, as Cliodhna Moloney crashed over in between.
The contest was originally scheduled to take place in Parma before being switched to Dublin in midweek and Ireland ultimately made the most of home advantage to end their Championship on a high.
The Azzurre will be disappointed not to have hit the heights of their 41-20 victory over Scotland last week that secured a spot in this third/fourth-place play-off, although Melissa Bettoni’s second-half try at least gave them something to celebrate.
HOSTS EDGE NERVY FIRST HALF
Early Ireland pressure nearly led to a try when Ciara Griffin alertly caught a loose ball and dived over but Brittany Hogan’s knock-on at the lineout saw it chalked off.
However, they didn’t have to wait long for the first try as the ball was spread to the left flank where Wall continued her impressive Championship by barrelling through the tackle of Sara Barattin to dot down.
A slightly scrappy first half had moments of quality from both sides as Beibhinn Parsons sliced through and neatly offloaded for the hosts before Ilaria Arrighetti made a searing break in response.
The 20th-minute sin-binning of Sene Naoupu for a high tackle gave the Azzurre a chance to hit back but instead, the reduced numbers of the Irish defence held firm and extended the lead to 8-0 with a penalty from Player of the Match Flood.
MURPHY CROWE HELPS IRELAND SOAR
The huff and puff from both teams failed to yield any further first-half points but after the break, Murphy Crowe showed the acceleration and vision that have made her one of the best sevens players in the world.
Off a well-executed lineout, the winger took first-phase pop ball and slipped between two Italian would-be tacklers before gliding away from another despairing defender to touch down under the posts, with Flood’s simple conversion extending the advantage beyond two scores.
That moment of inspiration seemed to spark Ireland and Moloney added a third try on 51 minutes with a tap-and-go penalty in the 22 leading to the hooker powering over the whitewash for her second score in as many matches.
It took until beyond the hour mark for Italy to have their first spell of sustained play in the Ireland 22 and although Leah Lyons held Bettoni up over the line to deny the Azzurre initially, the hooker finally breached the whitewash from close range on 69 minutes.
But with Flood pulling the strings from No.10, kicking cleverly and dictating play, the hosts were able to see out the match without any further scares and Murphy Crowe even had time to pounce on a loose ball and blaze away down the right flank for her second try as the clock ticked past 80 minutes.
