It was an afternoon that promised much, but in the end, Easter Sunday was a disappointing day in the RDS for the Girls in Green.
With a crowd of over 6,500 in attendance, breaking the previous record for attendance at an Irish Women's Six Nations match - Ireland showed glimpses of an attack system that looked outwardly positive and strong. But a number of handling errors and the inability to secure ball at ruck time resulted in a defeat for a team that had been aiming for their first win in a Six Nations since April 2022.
After a stint out with injury, Munster centre Enya Breen returned to action and replaced Aoife Dalton in the inside centre position. Speaking after the game, Breen spoke of how gutted Ireland were to lose, even if they'd be taking home plenty of positives.
"Obviously we are disappointed with the result but we are proud of the performance we showed. We didn't give up the fight right until the last second and put ourselves in positions to score. Unfortunately the winning and losing of the game is if you take those opportunities but yeah we are disappointed but you can't fault the fight the girls showed until the end."
Ireland had gone into this game with their heads held high after a promising performance against championship contenders France. Speaking about the error-strewn game, Breen commented on the strength of the Italian side and how they put Ireland under the pump throughout the game
"All credit to the Italians they put us under a hell of a lot of pressure. When we got on top we just couldn't finish it out. Unfortunately that happens but we'll take the learnings from that and another day those will stick, those tries are scored and like I said we'd be on the other end of it."
Head coach Scott Bemand was also sure to note the ferocity that he knew the Italians would bring to the game but said regardless of the scoreline, the game was a massive learning curve for the girls and though they are disappointed with the result there is improvement there and areas to work on to better their game.
"We knew what sort of game the Italians would bring. They don't give up, they're dogged and determined. We just got to learn to be under that pressure, be clinical under that pressure. The handling errors is certainly an area of our game we need to get after. It's just being confident in that pressure. Yes, it does feel like a missed opportunity but those are the experiences, those are the learnings that we've got to take."
It is back to the drawing board for Bemand and co as they prepare to take on Wales in Cork on the 13th of April. Tickets for the clash in Virgin Media Park are available here.
