Debutant McLaughlin praises Azzurri defence
Ireland flanker Kevin McLaughlin hailed Italy’s defence in the second half of a ‘physically intense” international debut at Croke Park today.
Ireland started the defence of their RBS 6 Nations crown with a 29-11 win over the Azzurri with Jamie Heaslip and Tomas O’Leary scoring first-half tries.
However, the men in green failed to press home their advantage in a disappointing second half.
The Leinster man said: “I think we took our foot off the gas fractionally and I think the Italians defended a little bit better. Their kicking game was quite good in the second half and they kept us pinned back.”
He admitted that Ireland were frustrated by their performance in the second half which he put down to being “rusty”.
“In the second half our rustiness, having not played together for a while, showed through a bit more.”
He did go on to say that the team were “reasonably content” with the win in the Six Nations opener.
“We probably didn’t play as well as we could, but we are happy to get the win at the end of the day.”
