Another iconic English sporting venue and another Irish takeover as, a week after they overran Wembley, the area surrounding the Olympic Stadium was annexed by the team that now looks like being the best supported heading into the knockout stages.
The substantially lower capacity - 54,000 compared with Wembley’s 90,000 - was perhaps a factor but for all that that venue has been re-designed since the 2012 Olympics, the comparative lack of atmosphere may offer some cause for concern for West Ham United ahead of their move.
This was, after all, a much more meaningful encounter since, for all that Ireland were expected to beat Italy, it could not be the foregone conclusion that the meeting with Romania had been seven days earlier, not least with Sergio Parisse having recovered sufficiently from injury to be able to offer his inspirational lead to his men, which he duly did as they attempted to keep their own hopes of getting through alive.
When Keith Earls, wearing the No.13 shirt that had long been in the sole ownership of Brian O’Driscoll, scored the 12th minute try that took him ahead of his great compatriot and former team-mate as Ireland’s all-time record try scorer in World Cups, it looked as if it should be routine enough admittedly.
Prior to that Jonny Sexton and Tommy Allan had exchanged penalties and the stand-off who turned down Scotland in favour of Italy, nudged his side closer before the interval.
That Earls try was to be the only one of a match which might have turned had the overlapping Josh Furno been able to get to the left corner a fraction of a second sooner early in the second half, but Peter O’Mahony’s saving cover tackle meant his side remained ahead, even when Allan struck for a third time.
Two more Sexton penalties eased Ireland clear enough to be able to hang on for a 16-9 win even after O’Mahony was sin-binned for a high tackle eight minutes before the game ended, almost inevitably, with Sexton kicking the ball off the field, but given the quality of wide players at their disposal, the prosaic nature of their play invited the conclusion that the European champions are holding a great deal back for the knockout stages.
They will surely need to do much more to beat France next Sunday to avoid the All Blacks, whom they have never beaten, in the last eight, knowing that they would instead face Argentina who could technically still be overhauled but effectively secured their place with yesterday’s ultimately emphatic 45-16 defeat of Tonga since neither the Pumas losing to Namibia nor the Tongans beating the All Blacks is imaginable and both would have to happen to turn the pool around.
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