BIGON Sandbank

Ireland made a winning start to their Six Nations campaign with a comfortable 29-11 victory against a below-par Italian outfit at Croke Park.

The defending Grand Slam champions were never seriously troubled by an Italian side short on ideas, in a match in which both sides struggled for continuity and creativity.

It was a far from complete performance by the Irish - particularly in the second-half - however they were still able to produce enough to dispose of the Italians with ease and fire a few warning shots across the bows of the other serious Six Nations contenders.

The majority of Ireland’s points came from the boot of fly-half Ronan O’Gara who produced a near flawless display of place-kicking to bag a 16-point haul.

O’Gara also had a major hand in Ireland’s first try when his flat cut-out pass put left winger Andrew Trimble into space, Trimble stumbled with the line in site, but in the ensuing phase big No 8 Jamie Heaslip strolled over after some slick play by the Irish centre pairing of Gordon D’Arcy and Brian O’Driscoll created an overlap on the right.

The Italians got on the board shortly after with a penalty to fly-half Craig Gower, while O’Gara added two more of his own to extend Ireland’s lead to 16-3.

To make matters worse for the Italians they had inside centre Gonzalo Garcia yellow-carded in the 32nd minute by referee Roman Poite for a spare tackle on O’Driscoll.

The Irish were quick to take advantage of the man advantage when scrum-half Tomas O’Leary sniped down the blind-side for a simple try after another sweeping build-up from the home side.

Italy did manage a try of their own just before the half-time break when Irish fullback Rob Kearney’s lazy clearance was charged down by Italian wing Kaine Robertson who regathered to score.

The second-half was a mundane affair with both sides content to kick possession away after the early exchange of penalty goals.

Ireland attempted to play a more expansive game in the closing stages with the result beyond doubt, but were not penetrative enough to breach the Italian line for a third try, despite a wealth of possession.

Italy’s best moment of the game came in the final stanza when left-wing Mirco Bergamasco made a clean bust, unfortunately the move came to a meek end for the visitors when no-one chased Gower’s kick through.

Both sides will know they have plenty to work on if they are to achieve their objectives for the Six Nations - Italy will need to be better if they are to avoid the wooden spoon, likewise Ireland if they are to attain back-to-back Grand Slams.