ROME (AP) — Ireland overcame Italy by a scrappy 22-17 at the Stadio Olimpico and finished the last day of the Six Nations where it started, in third place.
Ireland had slim hopes of an historic third consecutive title, and the unconvincing bonus-point win in Rome was overtaken as expected within hours by England, which finished second, and France, the new champion.
Click to Gallery
Ireland's Dan Sheehan, center, is tackled by Italy's Gianmarco lucchesi, left, and Manuel Zuliani during the Six Nations rugby match between Italy and Ireland, at Rome's Olympic Stadium, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Players compete for the ball during the Six Nations rugby match between Italy and Ireland, at Rome's Olympic Stadium, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Italy's Tommaso Menoncello, bottom, with his teammate following the Six Nations rugby match between Italy and Ireland, at Rome's Olympic Stadium, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Ireland's players celebrates following the Six Nations rugby match between Italy and Ireland, at Rome's Olympic Stadium, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Ireland's James Lowe, jumps over Italy's Ange Capuozzo during the Six Nations rugby match between Italy and Ireland, at Rome's Olympic Stadium, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Ireland's Hugo Keenan, left, score a try as Italy's Martin Page-Relo tries to defend during the Six Nations rugby match between Italy and Ireland, at Rome's Olympic Stadium, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
A week after Ireland was hammered by France in Dublin and lost control of its destiny, it briefly regained the tournament lead with a fourth win in five matches. But the Triple Crown holder suffered a French hangover trying to force too much against an Italy determined to show its best side after conceding 18 tries to France and England.
“There's a little bit of disappointment that we didn't play at our best,” Ireland interim coach Simon Easterby said.
"Credit to Italy, they had a part to play in that. We coughed up too much possession and didn't make the most of some opportunities. We could have broken the back a little bit but we allowed them to stay in the game. The scoreline reflected it was tighter than it should have been.”
The Irish scored four tries to two and enjoyed 30-plus minutes with a man advantage but a clunky, deflated performance gave Italy hope of an upset.
Italy frequently found holes in the Irish defense but three yellow cards — one of them turning into a 20-minute red — undid all of its impressive work.
The highlight of Ireland's display was hooker Dan Sheehan's first test hat trick of tries, extending his men's Six Nations record for a forward to 13. Fullback Hugo Keenan could have had a hat trick, too, but one was ruled out and another wasn't given.
Italy should have led at halftime.
Winger Monty Ioane finished a try brilliantly engineered by Tommaso Menoncello and Paolo Garbisi, and Tommaso Allan converted and added a penalty.
Ireland replied with only a Keenan try assisted by flyhalf Jack Crowley, who converted.
Italy lost injured forwards Sebastian Negri, Lorenzo Cannone and Dino Lamb in the first 30 minutes but the team created four linebreaks to Ireland's one.
Then in the 39th minute replacement flanker Michele Lamaro, the long-time Italy captain who was dropped for the match, was yellow-carded for needlessly tapping the ball out of the hands of Jamison Gibson-Park.
Ireland used the penalty and extra man for a lineout maul and Sheehan's first try to go into the break 12-10 up, then 17-10 afterward when Sheehan scored from another lineout maul.
Just as Lamaro returned, with two tries conceded in his absence, teammate Ross Vintcent was yellow-carded for a head-on collision with Keenan. It was later upgraded to red.
Keenan should have had the next try, assisted by Crowley again, but it was chalked off because of a knock-on by captain Caelan Doris.
Sheehan got his third try when Gibson-Park's crossfield kick to a leaping Mack Hansen over the sideline was slapped inside to the hooker.
But while Ireland led 22-10 and Crowley was playing well in his first start since November, he missed a third straight conversion, two of them badly.
The missed goalkicks and bombed tries looked costly when Italy's Ange Capuozzo beautifully set up a try for Stephen Varney and Allan converted from the sideline. Italy trailed by five, never having been this close to Ireland in 11 years.
Sheehan left in the 70th to a standing ovation from the Irish fans, estimated to be more than 20,000.
Keenan went over again, late, but James Lowe was ruled to have stepped on the touchline, even though replays showed he didn't.
Italy's final fling unraveled when replacement hooker Giacomo Nicotera was sin-binned for a dangerous ruck clearout, confirming the team's 16th straight defeat to the Irish.
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
Ireland's Dan Sheehan, center, is tackled by Italy's Gianmarco lucchesi, left, and Manuel Zuliani during the Six Nations rugby match between Italy and Ireland, at Rome's Olympic Stadium, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Players compete for the ball during the Six Nations rugby match between Italy and Ireland, at Rome's Olympic Stadium, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Italy's Tommaso Menoncello, bottom, with his teammate following the Six Nations rugby match between Italy and Ireland, at Rome's Olympic Stadium, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Ireland's players celebrates following the Six Nations rugby match between Italy and Ireland, at Rome's Olympic Stadium, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Ireland's James Lowe, jumps over Italy's Ange Capuozzo during the Six Nations rugby match between Italy and Ireland, at Rome's Olympic Stadium, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Ireland's Hugo Keenan, left, score a try as Italy's Martin Page-Relo tries to defend during the Six Nations rugby match between Italy and Ireland, at Rome's Olympic Stadium, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal agents carrying out immigration arrests in Minnesota's Twin Cities region already shaken by the fatal shooting of a woman rammed the door of one home Sunday and pushed their way inside, part of what the Department of Homeland Security has called its largest enforcement operation ever.
In a dramatic scene similar to those playing out across Minneapolis, agents captured a man in the home just minutes after pepper spraying protesters outside who had confronted the heavily armed federal agents. Along the residential street, protesters honked car horns, banged on drums and blew whistles in attempts to disrupt the operation.
Video of the clash taken by The Associated Press showed some agents pushing back protesters while a distraught woman later emerged from the house with a document that federal agents presented to arrest the man. Signed by an immigration officer, the document — unlike a warrant signed by a judge — does not authorize forced entry into a private residence. A warrant signed by an immigration officer only authorizes arrest in a public area.
Immigrant advocacy groups have conducted extensive “know-your-rights” campaigns urging people not to open their doors unless agents have a court order signed by a judge.
But within minutes of ramming the door in a neighborhood filled with single-family homes, the handcuffed man was led away.
More than 2,000 immigration arrests have been made in Minnesota since the enforcement operation began at the beginning of December, said Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News on Sunday that the administration would send additional federal agents to Minnesota to protect immigration officers and continue enforcement.
The Twin Cities — the latest target in President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement campaign — is bracing for what is next after 37-year-old Renee Good was shot and killed by an immigration officer on Wednesday.
“We’re seeing a lot of immigration enforcement across Minneapolis and across the state, federal agents just swarming around our neighborhoods,” said Jason Chavez, a Minneapolis city councilmember. “They’ve definitely been out here.”
Chavez, the son of Mexican immigrants who represents an area with a growing immigrant population, said he is closely monitoring information from chat groups about where residents are seeing agents operating.
People holding whistles positioned themselves in freezing temperatures on street corners Sunday in the neighborhood where Good was killed, watching for any signs of federal agents.
More than 20,000 people have taken part in a variety of trainings to become “observers” of enforcement activities in Minnesota since the 2024 election, said Luis Argueta, a spokesperson for Unidos MN, a local human rights organization .
“It’s a role that people choose to take on voluntarily, because they choose to look out for their neighbors,” Argueta said.
The protests have been largely peaceful, but residents remained anxious. On Monday, Minneapolis public schools will start offering remote learning for the next month in response to concerns that children might feel unsafe venturing out while tensions remain high.
Many schools closed last week after Good’s shooting and the upheaval that followed.
While the enforcement activity continues, two of the state’s leading Democrats said that the investigation into Good's shooting death should not be overseen solely by the federal government.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said in separate interviews Sunday that state authorities should be included in the investigation because the federal government has already made clear what it believes happened.
“How can we trust the federal government to do an objective, unbiased investigation, without prejudice, when at the beginning of that investigation they have already announced exactly what they saw — what they think happened," Smith said on ABC’s "This Week."
The Trump administration has defended the officer who shot Good in her car, saying he was protecting himself and fellow agents and that Good had “weaponized” her vehicle.
Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, defended the officer on Fox News Channel’s “The Sunday Briefing.”
"That law enforcement officer had milliseconds, if not short time to make a decision to save his life and his other fellow agents,” he said.
Lyons also said the administration’s enforcement operations in Minnesota wouldn't be needed “if local jurisdictions worked with us to turn over these criminally illegal aliens once they are already considered a public safety threat by the locals.”
The killing of Good by an ICE officer and the shooting of two people by federal agents in Portland, Oregon, led to dozens of protests in cities across the country over the weekend, including New York, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Oakland, California.
Contributing were Associated Press journalists Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis; Thomas Strong in Washington; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio.
A woman gets into an altercation with a federal immigration officer as officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A federal immigration officer deploys pepper spray as officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A family member, center, reacts after federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Bystanders are treated after being pepper sprayed as federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A family member reacts after federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Federal agents look on after detaining a person during a patrol in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)
Bystanders react after a man was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a traffic stop, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Robbinsdale, Minn. (AP Photo/John Locher)
People stand near a memorial at the site where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
A man looks out of a car window after being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a traffic stop, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Robbinsdale, Minn. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Border Patrol agents detain a man, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
People shout toward Border Patrol agents making an arrest, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Demonstrators protest outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey holds a news conference on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
Protesters react as they visit a makeshift memorial during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
