‘It Was A Hell Of A Test Match’ – Farrell

Farrell acknowledged that there’s still plenty of work to be done but praised the character shown by his team who were second best at half time, “It was a hell of a Test match, really. From our side of things, there’s things we obviously need to address as far as errors and getting better.

“But the story of the match for me is we showed unbelievable character to come through that match against a very good Italian side. They don’t go away like they used to do, that’s for sure. We were in a compromised position there at half-time. The Italians on top, and rightly so. I thought we showed great character to have some fight to get back into the game, to get control of the game.

“But also more than that I would have thought, the character shone through when the Italians came back. Defending our own line, and the scrum under the posts was immense because the scrum was under pressure. Taking it right to the death there and could have been in with a chance of a bonus point, but it wasn’t to be.

“So, it’s unbelievable pride from myself and the coaching staff because we’ve a lot of boys who are sat at home watching or in the stand here watching, and they’ve got a lot of character, those experienced guys.

“This group showed a lot of character today, so it’s going to stand to us in the future, that’s for sure.”

14 February 2026; Jamie Osborne of Ireland scores his side’s first try during the Guinness 6 Nations Rugby Championship match between Ireland and Italy at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Ireland skipper Caelan Doris was happy to come out on the right side of what he called a proper battle as Ireland overcame the half time deficit to take the lead and hold out against Italy who came within a score of a draw at the end.

“Pleased to come out on the right side (of the result) definitely. Proper battle the whole way through. That last 10-minute period defending quite a bit in our own 22, so happy with some of the character we showed.

“I think Italy played some very good stuff and tested us throughout, but equally, I feel there’s some stuff we left out there. Probably weren’t clinical enough. Had some early opportunities, some of our discipline stuff maybe a little bit off, but definitely pleasing to be on the right side of the result, and it’s a pretty good springboard to build on for next week.”

Looking ahead to Round 3 Doris continued, “Twickenham is obviously a tough place to go, you mightn’t get that many chances so you need to convert them. Scoreboard pressure away from home is going to be very important. Those early chances that we got today, we need to convert them next week if they come again. That’s the big thing. Pressure into points.”

14 February 2026; Robert Baloucoune of Ireland dives over to score his side’s third try during the Guinness 6 Nations Rugby Championship match between Ireland and Italy at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile

Rob Baloucoune marked his Championship debut with a try and a Player of the Match performance. His speed in attack brough the crowd to its feet before he got over for a crucial second half score, “We came in at half-time and we knew the performance we wanted to give out in the second half.

“We got the result, the fans were great, the turnout was great, and yeah, it was an awesome experience for me personally. It’s class. It is definitely a feeling over the last few years that felt pretty impossible to get to, so even getting into the Six Nations camp has been unbelievable, and then to be given the chance to play and to score as well at the Aviva has been unreal.

“For the try, I’m used to it up in Ulster, Stu (McCloskey) is always looking for offloads, those kind of basketball offloads, so I’m always looking to get it off him, and to be able to take the try was class as well.