Ireland thump Italy to keep title hopes alive
Ireland breezed past callow Italy 50-17 to tee up a tilt at a fourth Six Nations crown in seven years.
Hugo Keen an bagged a debut brace, with fellow- newcomer Will Connors also on the scoresheet.
CJ Stander, Johnny Sexton, Bundee Aki and Dave Heffernan all crossed, too, with Edoardo Padovani and Paolo Garbisi finishing for the Italians.
Garry Ringrose suffered a head injury scare in one of the few blows to Ireland’s straightforward afternoon at an Aviva Stadium empty of fans due to coronavirus restrictions.
Ireland’s facile win leaves Andy Farrell’s side requiring another bonus- point victory against France in Paris next weekend to seal yet another Six Nations crown.
Ireland claimed Six Nations glory in 2014, 2015 and 2018 under Joe Schmidt, with the final tournament win comprising just their third ever Grand Slam.
But now new boss Farrell has the chance to steer Ireland to another Six Nations triumph at his first crack.
Putting four tries past France in Paris will prove an altogether different challenge from vanquishing the also- rans of Italy, however.
The Azzurri’ s record Six Nations losing streak was extended to 26 with precious little issue, and with Ireland hardly having to hit full stride.
Irish captain Sexton said: “It was scrappy at times, that’s how it is when you haven’t played together for six or seven months.
“We knew it was going to be a bit like that but I’m proud of the effort of the lads, it was outstanding. Anytime you put 50 points on an international team you’ve done a lot of good.
“We did a couple of things we’d like to take back – I’d like to take the intercept back – but these things happen and it’s how you bounce back from the mistakes you make.”
Sexton added: “Points difference might not be enough now. If we’d got maybe another score or hadn’t conceded at the end maybe we could have put a bit of pressure on England. Now we might have to go over (to France) and score four ( tries). You never know.
“We’re going to have to try to win the game. How many wins have we had in Paris over the years? Not too many.
“France are an outstanding team under their new coaching team and we’re going to have our work cut out.
“We can’t look back but if you’d offered me 50-17 at the start we’d have snapped your hand off.
“We go to Paris with it all to do really, but we’ve got a special group and a special coaching team and if anyone can do it, we can.”
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell said: “It’s a job well done in the end. We move on to next week.
“We showed glimpses of things we can do and it’s one game down. We’ve got one game to go and plenty to work on but at least we take the tournament into the last week.”