Schmidt rates Gilroy display as ‘a mixed bag’ as Jackson stresses his quality
Murray Kinsella reports from Stadio Olimpico
CRAIG GILROY WAS back in an Ireland shirt in the Six Nations for the first time since 2013 today and made up for lost time by grabbing a hat-trick of tries in the commanding 63-10 win over Italy.
Gilroy scored three tries for Ireland. Source: Dan Sheridan/INPHO
The Ulsterman was something of a surprise choice on the Ireland bench in the first place, and probably got longer to make an impact than he had expected to when replacing the injured Robbie Henshaw in the 47th minute.
His show and go to completely fool Michele Campagnaro for an excellent individual try was a clear highlight, while he also finished from an awkwardly-bouncing CJ Stander clearance kick and from a long Paddy Jackson pass.
While many Ireland supporters were deeply impressed with the 25-year-old’s contributions, Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt saw plenty of scope for improvement.
“I thought it was a mixed bag for Craig,” said Schmidt. “There was a couple of defensive things, positionally, that I think he’ll learn from.
“He was the recipient of one of the most outstanding tactical kicks I’ve seen in a long time from CJ Stander. CJ swears that it was meant to come off the side of his foot like that so he could get the relevant spin to get it into Craig’s hands.
“[Craig] doesn’t need too many invitations when the ball bounces. He is quick, his ability to change direction is very, very good and he took a nice high ball at one stage. He ticked most of his boxes really well.
“The reason we chose him is because we were going to maybe give a few different guys chances over these first two weeks, we committed to that.
Gilroy streaks clear of the Italian defence. Source: Dan Sheridan/INPHO
“We probably made less changes than we originally thought, partly because of injuries to guys like Peter O’Mahony, Johnny Sexton and Andrew Trimble, who we thought would be available by now.
“The great thing is that they will definitely be available for our next game and hopefully there will be a few headaches now in terms of selection.”
While Gilroy collected three tries on his Ireland return, his provincial team-mate Paddy Jackson was excellent in the 10 shirt.
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