Scott Bemand: Italy defeat 'a missed opportunity' for Ireland

Ireland coach Scott Bemand admitted his side lacked a clinical edge, as they fell to a first ever home defeat to Italy in the Guinness Women's Six Nations.

A Katie Corrigan try on 78 minutes, which was converted by Dannah O'Brien, briefly gave Ireland hope of a miraculous comeback, but it would have been a cruel blow on the Italians, who were ruthless with limited attacking opportunities as they held on for a 27-21 victory.

"As a group, we've said we go for performance, and we definitely haven't shied away about talking about winning," the Ireland head coach said.

"As we sit here now we're pretty disappointed not to win the game. There are plenty of moments in that, that gave us opportunities to do that,"

While the statistics show Ireland dominated possession and territory in front of a record crowd of 6,605 at the RDS, they were made to pay for a sloppy attacking display, with 27 handling errors committed.

"I think it's probably a little bit of confidence and belief, that you can actually see it out. The Italians, we knew what game they bring, they wont give up, they're dogged and determined, and you have to go out and beat them. They don't give up in tackles, and you look at the possession, the territory, how much time we spent in their 22.

"We just got to learn to be under that pressure and be clinical under that pressure."

Centre Enya Breen, who was making her first Irish appearance for a year after an injury-ridden 12 months, believes while many of those handling errors were forced by good Italian pressure, Ireland have to accept their mistakes.

"It was a bit of both," Breen said.

"Mistakes on our side, on another day those would stick, but credit to the Italians, they put us under a lot of pressure. Maybe that was the cause