Six Nations rugby round-up: Ireland crush Italy in bonus-point try fest

Ireland captain Jamie Heaslip admitted it was a relief to bounce back from last week’s defeat with a comprehensive 63-10 win over Italy in Rome.

CJ Stander scored a hat-trick, while Craig Gilroy also ran in three as a substitute as Ireland recorded the first try-scoring bonus point in the history of the Six Nations in a dominant performance.

Irish winger Keith Earls ran in two tries and Garry Ringrose also crossing the chalk.

Italy were awarded a penalty try.

This is the first time since England in 1914 that a team has had two hat-trick scorers in a Five or Six Nations game.

It followed on from a disappointing opening day defeat to Scotland, where Ireland lost out narrowly in an entertaining tie at Murrayfield.

The No 8, who captained Ireland against Italy after Rory Best was ruled out with illness, said his side were flattered by the scoreline but was happy with how they recovered from last week.

“The final score put a nice shine on it,” he told ITV. “We got a few lucky bounces but worked a lot of scores. We were a lot more clinical, we were a bit loose at times last week, but we showed in that second half what we can do.

“We took a lot of belief from that and corrected what we did wrong and focused on what we can do.

“It’s nicer to win than lose. Everyone on that field is a competitor. We are delighted with the score and especially the second half. Italy really challenged us at times.

“Our defence was very good but there’s a lot of work to be done.

“Last week was a tough loss and a lot of people stood up today and trusted the process.

“Italy were always going to pose a massive challenge, but we still scored when a man down. We lived in the moment and got the outcome.

“We wanted to have two wins from two, but we’re on one from two, and have two bonus points.”

In Cardiff, Elliot Daly’s try four minutes from time gave champions England a 21-16 victory over Wales at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.

England’s 15-match winning streak and hopes of a repeat Grand Slam looked over as they trailed late into a game which Wales dominated.

But an errant clearance by Jonathan Davies allowed England to counter and Daly scuttled over in the corner.

England had started strongly and led 8-6 after a Ben Youngs try but Wales then took command, their scrum making inroads routinely, and reached the break 13-8 ahead after winger Liam Williams found a rare hole in the visiting defence.

The incredible pace and ferocious tackling continued in the second half as two more Owen Farrell penalties and one for Leigh Halfpenny made it 16-14 to Wales going into the final 10 minutes.

But just when the hosts thought they had done enough, England struck through Daly.

“We showed good examples of what we can do today, though I would have preferred to wrap up a bit earlier,” England captain Dylan Hartley said.

“The finishers came on for us and showed great composure. There are parts of the game where we need to improve, but we’ll take that one.

“Wales are a hell of a side and from minute one they showed how physical they are.”

Wales lock Alun Wyn Jones told the BBC: “It was a 75-minute performance from us. I think that was the difference in the end.

* Agencies

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