Ireland relish Roman romp

Ireland ran in five tries to beat Italy 38-9 in Rome and stay on course for a potential Six Nations Grand Slam.

The Irish trailed until the final minute of the first half when Luke Fitzgerald raced in from eight metres out after 19 phases of pressure.

There were also tries from Tommy Bowe, David Wallace and late scores for Fitzgerald again and Brian O'Driscoll, as Ireland made it two wins from two in this year's championship.

The scoreline flatters the visitors and the contest itself, which was often a drab affair interspersed with a series of flashpoints.

Italy have never beaten Ireland and despite leading 9-7 until the 39th minute, they never really looked like causing an upset.

That lead was established by the boot of Luke McLean, while Bowe's interception try and Ronan O'Gara's conversion got Ireland on the board.

Tempers flared after just 40 seconds with a clothes-line tackle by Andrea Masi on Rob Kearney incurring the wrath of several Ireland players and a yellow card for the Azzurri full-back.

Italy had the better of the opening exchanges as Ireland came up with a string of errors but the visitors gradually started to go through their phases and ratcheted up the pressure.

In a rare chance for Italy, Gonzalo Canale charged down a clearance by O'Gara and was then tackled without the ball by the Ireland fly-half, who was yellow-carded.

The visitors responded well to the loss of their playmaker despite having a patched-up look to their back line.

Prop Salvatore Perugini joined O'Gara in the sin-bin for infringing at the line-out and after five minutes of intensive pressure at the end of the half, Italy's line finally cracked on the stroke of half-time.

Quality tries

That appeared to settle Irish nerves and they scored three quality tries in a one-sided second half.

Jamie Heaslip almost crossed after running hard on to a O'Driscoll offload but was hauled down inches short of the line.

Bowe then nearly wriggled over and once again the pressure eventually told with Wallace picking a path through the ragged Italian defence for a try converted by O'Gara.

O'Gara landed his first penalty of the afternoon and at 24-9 ahead going into the final quarter with the Azzurri offering little in attack, Ireland looked in the clear.

So it proved as in the closing moments Fitgerald sprinted down the left wing to cap a top quality personal performance.

O'Driscoll's last-minute interception try put some gloss on the scoreline - his 19th score in the championship making him its second-highest tryscorer.

But Ireland will know they face a much more dangerous obstacle to their Grand Slam ambitions when England visit Croke Park in two weeks.