Ireland kick-start World Cup warm-up campaign with 29-10 win over Italy

Ireland 29-10 Italy, Aviva Stadium
Scorecard

Ireland started their World Cup warm-up campaign on a positive note as they completed a 29-10 victory over Italy at Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

Both the teams looked even in the opening exchanges before Italy got their first points on the board through a try from Maxime Mbanda in the 13th minute. Ireland's response came five minutes later when Chris Farrell set up Joey Carberry for a converted try as the scoreline became 7-5.

The visitors reclaimed the lead by the end of the first quarter when Carlo Canna grabbed a grubber kick from Giulio Bisegni to cross over making the scoreline 7-10 but that remained the final points in the game for the Azzurri.

Ireland gained control of the game by the end of the first half with back to back tries from Dave Kearney (30') and Andrew Conway (37') as they headed into the break with a 19-10 lead.

Joe Schmidt's men got off the block quick after the break with Jordi Murphy bringing their fourth try and soon they suffered a setback with Carbery leaving the field injured.

By the 73rd minute, Kieran Marmion gathered a clearance kick from Ian McKinley and made most of it scoring Ireland's fifth try that proved enough as they completed a 29-10 win.

Ireland will face England next at Twickenham Stadium on 24th August.