Last kick heartbreak as Ireland fall to Italy in World U20 Championship
There was heartbreak for Ireland at the World Rugby U20 Championship when a conversion with the last kick of the game was missed by replacement Sam Wisniewski as Neil Doak's men fell to defeat at Stadio Luigi Zaffanella in Viadana.
Replacement flanker Oisin Minogue got over for a try with the clock in the red but Wisniewski was unable to land the kick from the right as Italy backed up their Six Nations win over Ireland with another success.
It leaves Ireland needing to defeat New Zealand in their third and final game next Wednesday but they could have few complaints about the outcome of this one in a poor game in northern Italy.
In the earlier game in the pool New Zealand, 14-5 winners over Italy in the opening game, ousted a Georgia side 38-19 that Ireland defeated 35-28 last weekend.
There was a pre-match seback for Ireland when flanker Michael Foy was injured in the warm-up and had to withdraw and the UCC clubman was replaced by Galwegians' Bobby Power.
Ireland did well to defend early Italian pressure but they could do little to stop Italian No.8 Nelson Casartelli after 12 minutes when he scored off a drive following a penalty to the left corner.
Ireland hit back in the evening 33 degrees Celsius heat but their first two forays into Italian territory ended with lock Piero Gritti, a son of former Italian international Andrea, stealing two lineouts in the sort of form which saw Clermont Ferrand sign him as an 18-year old two years ago from Treviso.
Skipper Éanna McCarthy and No.8 Luke Murphy led the way in cleaning up the lineout and out-half Tom Wood pulled back a penalty from close range after 25 minutes after lock Billy Corrigan was taken out with a no-arms tackle to cut the gap to 5-3 in a game where both sides struggled to build phases, largely due to some poor handling.
Italian full-back Edoardo Todaro extended their lead five minutes from the break with a penalty from 35 metres after Murphy did well to collect a chip as the home side countered from deep, but he was isolated and pinged for holding on and Ireland went in trailing 8-3.
Ireland, similar to the start of the opening half, defended an Italian penalty to touch down the right, forcing a knock-on ten metres short of the line.
Wood pulled back another penalty from the right inside the 22 after another no-arms tackle on Corrigan to reduce the margin to 8-6 after 52 minutes.
But Italy struck a telling blow just before the second water break when a penalty down the right was mauled over from over 20 metres by a rampant home pack with Gritti credited with the touchdown and Todaro adding the conversion to take a 15-6 lead into the final quarter.
Try-scorer Casartelli was binned for a high tackle on Ireland full-back Charlie Molony just before Italy turned over a promising Irish attack.
And Ireland made the most of the opportunity. Corrigan took the lineout and Ireland went blindside for replacement hooker Mikey Yarr to score in the corner and cut the gap to 15-11 with 17 minutes remaining after replacement out-half Wisniewski was unable to add the touchline conversion.
Skipper McCarthy was held up after a good drive before Italy countered and after Todaro was wide from 43 metres, they countered with another superb maul which ended with a penalty in front of the posts which Todaro converted to make it 18-11 and Irish lock Corrigan was binned with nine minutes remaining.
Ireland, down a man and with try-scorer Yarr going off with an injury, never gave up and a second penalty to the right corner yielded a try for replacement Oisin Minogue with the clock in the red to cut the margin to two points but Wisniewski was unable to convert from the right and Italy celebrated a second successive win over Ireland.
Scorers for Italy: Tries: N Casartelli, P Gritti. Con: E Todaro. Pens: Todaro (2).
Scorers for Ireland: Try: M Yarr. Pens: T Wood (2).
ITALY: E Todaro; A Drago (R Ioannucci 62), F Zanandea, R Casarin, J Ducros (G Pietramala 68); R Fasti, N Beni (M Bellotto 74); S Pelliccioli (S Mistrulli 54), N Corvasce (A Caiolo-Serra 54), N Bolognini (L Trevisan 53); M Midena (E Opoku Gyamfi 53), P Gritti; G Milano, C Bianchi (A Miranda 57), N Casartelli.
IRELAND: C Molony; P Farrell, C Mangan, E Smyth, D Moloney; T Wood (S Wisniewski 60), W Wootton (C Logan 64); A Usanov (B Bohan 53), H Walker (M Yarr 53-78), A Mullan (T McAllister 53) M Ronan (C Kennelly 48), B Corrigan; E McCarthy, B Power (O Minogue 62), L Murphy.
Referee: Ben Breakspear (Wales).
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