Ireland rebounded from their opening Six Nations defeat with an emphatic nine-try, 63-10 demolition of Italy Saturday as flanker CJ Stander and reserve back Craig Gilroy both ran in a hat trick of tries. Keith Earls touched down twice in the first half to go along with a pair of scores from Stander as Ireland swept into a 28-10 half-time lead at Rome's Stadio Olimpico. Joe Schmidt's side stormed to a commanding bonus-point victory with five more second-half tries as Stander grabbed his third before Gilroy ran a tiring Italian defense ragged with Garry Ringrose also crossing the whitewash. The result briefly left Ireland top of the standings on six points, having secured the consolation of a losing bonus point in last weekend's 27-22 defeat against Scotland at Murrayfield. "It's definitely nicer to win than to lose and we are delighted with the score, but there's a still a lot of work for us to do," stand-in Irish captain Jamie Heaslip told ITV Sport. "We'll recuperate and recover now and then the hard work starts again." Wales, fresh from last Saturday's 33-7 victory away to Italy, faces Grand Slam champion England, which launched its title defense with an unconvincing 19-16 home victory over France, in Cardiff. Sunday will see Scotland aim to back up its 27-22 win over Ireland by ending its 18-year wait for a Championship victory against France in Paris. — Agencies
