5 Things You Missed: Ireland 20-13 Italy - 2026 Six Nations - Robert Baloucoune stars on Six Nations debut

Ireland grabbed three tries, as Leinster's Jamie Osborne and Jack Conan kept their side in the fight, before Ulster wing Robert Baloucoune bagged the pivotal score upon his Six Nations debut. The Ulster flyer was dutifully awarded Player of the Match, in what was a hard-fought afternoon against the resilient 'Azzurri'.

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The match begun with a sparring contest, as both Ireland and Italy jostled to be first on the board. A deliberate knock on by Louis Lynagh sent the Italian wing to the sin bin, as Ireland capitalised on the extra man advantage. A hard line from Stuart McCloskey opened a gap in the defence, as the Ulster centre offloaded to Jamie Osborne for a 16th minute score, yet Sam Prendergast failed to convert his kick.

Italy returned fire from the boot of Paolo Garbisi, who narrowed the gap with a penalty after 20 minutes. Ireland would then drop down a player, as scrum half Craig Casey was sin binned for a clash of heads with Lorenzo Cannone. Italy took full advantage of the numerical upper hand, as hooker Giacomo Nicotera led a powerful rolling maul across whitewash. Garbisi's conversion established a half-time lead of 10-5.

Ireland fired back in the second half, as Jack Conan wrestled his side over the line from close range and back onto a level field. Prendergast sliced his second strike at the posts, to keep the scores poised at 10-all. Italy had a try dissallowed shortly after, as Tommaso Menoncello sent a forward pass to Louis Lynagh, following a stunning break from the Benetton man.

Ireland's resident Ulster contingency gelled once more, as Stuart McCloskey found his provincial teammate Rob Baloucoune for a try on his Six Nations debut. The men in green built on this with a Jack Crowley conversion and a subsequent penalty through the sticks, before Paolo Garbisi slotted a three-pointer of his own shortly thereafter, for a 20-13 score-line that remained until full-time. The Aviva Stadium drew a sigh of relief, as Ireland got off the mark in the Six Nations.

TRIES: 3 (Osborne 16', Conan 42', Baloucoune 58')

CONVERSIONS: 1 (Crowley 58')

PENALTIES: 1 (Crowley 62')

DROP GOALS: 0

YELLOW CARDS: 1 (Casey 31')

RED CARDS: 0

STARTING XV: 15. Jamie Osborne 14. Rob Baloucoune 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Stuart McCloskey 11. James Lowe 10. Sam Prendergast 9. Craig Casey 1. Jeremy Loughman 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Thomas Clarkson 4. Joe McCarthy 5. James Ryan 6. Cormac Izuchuckwu 7. Caelan Doris 8. Jack Conan

REPLACEMENTS: 16. Ronan Kelleher 17. Tom O'Toole 18. Tadhg Furlong 19. Edwin Edogbo 20. Tadhg Beirne 21. Nick Timoney 22. Jamison Gibson-Park 23. Jack Crowley

TRIES: 1 (Nicotera 33')

CONVERSIONS: 1 (Garbisi 33')

PENALTIES: 2 (Garbisi 20', 66')

DROP GOALS: 0

YELLOW CARDS: 1 (Lynagh 10')

RED CARDS: 0

STARTING XV: 15. Lorenzo Pani 14. Louis Lynagh 13. Tommaso Menoncello 12. Leonardo Marin 11. Monty Ioane 10. Paolo Garbisi 9. Alessandro Fusco 1. Danilo Fischetti 2. Giacomo Nicotera 3. Simone Ferrari 4. Niccolo Cannone 5. Andrea Zambonin 6. Michele Lamaro 7. Manuel Zuliani 8. Lorenzo Cannone

REPLACEMENTS: 16. Tommaso Di Bartolomeo 17. Mirco Spagnolo 18. Muhamed Hasa 19. Federico Ruzza 20. Riccardo Favretto 21. David Odiase 22. Alessandro Garbisi 23. Paolo Odogwu

With so much discussion around the Ireland number 10 jersey, we've dedicated a 'things you missed' section into breaking down the performance of the resident fly halves. Sam Prendergast took the start for Andy Farrell's side, with the Leinster man out to make amends for an underwhelming shift against France. However, it was a far from ideal performance from Prendergast, with a replacement showing from Jack Crowley staking a strong claim to start next weekend against England at Twickenham.

Prendergast's performance began with some grubber kicks that failed to find their mark. The fly half did string together some nice passes, with a varied length and confident in sending the long looping pass. However, Italy soon telegraphed Prendergasts' playbook, and Louis Lynagh nearly intercepted a wide miss pass out to the touch-line, with the referee ruling being that off a deliberate knock-on by the Italy wing for a trip to the sin bin. Prendergast mucked in up front, with some solid breakdown work, yet he was undone in defence my Lorenzo Pani's chip into the back-field, which almost cost Ireland had the following offload gone to hand.

Whilst there were positives to take from Prendergasts' performance, it will be his two missed conversions that will be remembered. The Leinster man scuffed two relatively straightforward attempts, following the tries from Jamie Osborne and Jack Conan. Coming off the bench, Jack Crowley steered the ship with some astute game management, and made good upon his shots at goal with a conversion and a penalty sent through the uprights. There was a frustrated feel around the Aviva with Prendergast at the mantle, with a cathartic roar of unmistakeable support once the Munster out-half came off the bench.

Once Andy Farrell had finished naming his squad for the second round of the 2026 Six Nations, there was quite the buzz around Belfast with two provincial stars set for their tournament debuts. There was no denying the impact that back row Cormac Izuchuckwu and wing Rob Baloucoune had on proceedings, with the try-scoring wing subsequently named Player of the Match for his efforts.

Starting with Izuchuckwu, the Ulster bruiser took the helm on the blindside and engaged in quite the brutal battle against Lorenzo Cannone's picks from the base. Despite it only being his fourth Ireland cap following his debut in the Summer, Izuchuckwu held his own against experienced Italian captain Michele Lamaro and even denied Leonardo Marin a try with a crucially timed intervention to send the ball dead. An asterisk upon Izuchuckwu's efforts was a poorly timed hit on an mid-air Italy player, which enabled Paolo Gabisi to strike a neat three pointer.

Baloucoune could not have dreamed up a more perfect start to life in Rugby's Greatest Championship, with his eagerness apparent with a burning desire to gather the kick chase. 'The Cat' also had a strong defensive presence, as he nailed his opposite man Monty Ioane into touch for a highlight-reel worthy hit. Overall, it was a strong day for Ulster's representatives, as Stuart McCloskey also grabbed two assists, whilst Nick Timoney and Tom O'Toole had stirring impacts from the bench.

As illegal offenses go, Craig Casey could feel himself to be rather unlucky to have taken a trip to the sin bin mid-way through the first half at the Aviva Stadium. The scrum half fronted up in the tackle against a rampant Lorenzo Cannone, with the bulldozing number eight breaking past the Munster man as the two made head to head contact in a wince-inducing collision. Casey was sent tumbling back to the deck, as he also took a forearm shunt to the mid-drift for good measure.

The scrum half emerged from the floor with a bloodied nose, with the match official then stopping the play to have a look at the collision. Plenty of the Ireland fans felt like they were about to see a card bvrandished for the Italian back row, however, Hollie Davidson turned the scope upon the scrum half due to not adjusting his tackle height. Casey rather gingerly jogged from the pitch, yet thankfully the off-field bunker review did not upgrade the accidental collision to a red card. Casey returned with plenty of cotton wool stuffed up his nostril, before his impacted breathing had him withdrawn by Jamison Gibson-Park.

You could hear the roar of support from the Cobh Pirates club house all the way up the M8, as Munster's latest break-out talent and home-grown provincial star Edwin Edogbo made his Ireland Test debut today in Dublin. The towering forward entered the fray with eleven minutes left on the clock, and wasted no time in emptying the tank to have a lasting impression upon Andy Farrell ahead of next weekend's trip to London. Edogbo has had an exhaustive journey to make his debut, having previously been called up for international honours back in the Autumn.

The versatile Munster forward was called upon to reinforce Ireland's winder travelling squad for the first round Autumn Series trip to Chicago. However, Edogbo, and fellow selected Munster teammate Brian Gleeson suffered injuries in the last-ditch inter-provincial clash against Leinster to close out the URC block. Andy Farrell spoke in the post match media about how Edogbo's story is an inspiring one, and sang his praises for making the milestone appearance from the bench.

There were a few historical records to acknowledge for Andy Farrell's side, as Ireland were able to successfully maintain their 100% record against Italy upon home Dublin soil. Italy have never yet won a senior men's Test match at the Aviva Stadium (or the old Lansdowne Road), with the record living on for the men in green. Also, this match tied Ireland's all-time consecutive winning streak against Italy, as they secured their 17th straight Test win over the Azzurri.