Ireland 19 Italy 3
Ireland struggled through gusting winds and a defiant Italian defence at Lansdowne Road to keep alive their hopes of winning the RBS 6 Nations Championship today.
Malcolm O'Kelly and Brian O'Driscoll grabbed the tries that secured a 12-0 half-time lead and a second-half try from Shane Horgan wrapped up a third championship victory with Scotland to come in Dublin next weekend.
Ireland, with a swirling wind at their backs in the first half, struggled to break down determined Italian defence until O'Kelly stole a line-out to plunge over and O'Driscoll conjured up a solo effort converted by Ronan O'Gara.
Ireland went into the match buoyed by their 19-13 win over world champions England at Twickenham but although a follow-up win over the Italians seemed inevitable the testing conditions ensured achieving it was hard work.
O'Gara's early penalty from the halfway line had enough distance but was marginally wide as Ireland chose to keep it tight within the pack rather than risk a kicking game in such windy conditions.
The Italians had hooker Fabio Ongaro sin-binned in the 17th minute but they held out until the 27th when O'Kelly anticipated a throw to the front of an Italian line-out and drove over for the try.
O'Gara was off target with the conversion, but a touch of O'Driscoll magic swiftly produced a second Irish try.
With the Italian defence stretched, he took full advantage with some typically elusive running. A dummied pass to O'Kelly deceived the remaining cover, and he eluded Ongaro's despairing dive to claim the try.
O'Gara landed the conversion from wide out, and Ireland took a 12-0 lead into the break.
Horgan claimed Ireland's third try, completely against the run of play, 15 minutes into the second half after O'Gara's flat pass sent him storming through a gap in the Italian midfield to score under the posts.
The Italians clearly felt O'Gara's pass had been a shade forward but the try, Horgan's 11th in 28 Tests, stood - and O'Gara added the conversion for a 19-0 lead.
A spell of Italian pressure ought to have ended with a try when Scott Palmer and Andrea de Rossi carved open the Irish defence. But with the line at his mercy, left wing Denis Dallan dropped de Rossi's pass.
Keith Gleeson and O'Driscoll picked up knocks as the Italians pressed - but both were able to continue. Gleeson eventually had to succumb to his injury, sustained during a tackle, and trudged off with an ice pack clutched to his right forearm. Victor Costello came on to replace him on the hour.
O'Driscoll was sinbinned in the 63rd minute for a high tackle on Italian scrum-half Paul Griffen but the Italians could not cut the errors out of their game and found their only points through a Roland de Marigny penalty after 66 minutes.