Corrigan sidelined by unlucky break

Five tries, a 24-point victory. There was no reason for anyone to feel downcast.

That's unless you were Reggie Corrigan, arm in plaster, out for the rest of the Six Nations Championship and also for Leinster's April Heineken Cup quarter-final at Lansdowne Road.

He brought off one tackle too many in the first half of the clash with Italy, breaking his lower arm and he will have a metal plate inserted in an operation in Dublin today.

"It's a bummer for me. I'll be out for up to eight weeks and I'll miss a crucial part of the season. The consolation is the team are playing well and I'm sure they will continue to play well. I'll be behind them all the way."

Because Italy is the baby of the Six Nations, supporters have tended to underestimate them Scotland and Wales have paid the price.

But this Irish team was never going to fall into the same trap.

At last, Ireland appear to have discovered a ruthless streak and though victory was not achieved without difficulty, it was for the most part a clinical display.

Captain Brian O'Driscoll knew he had done something special when he crossed for a 59th minute try to bury the Italian challenge and, in the process, create his own bit of rugby history to become Ireland's highest- ever try scorer. At 24 years of age and 18 tries to his credit there will surely be a lot more.

"It's a milestone but now it's done, I will just forget about it. I feel humble to beat the record held by Brendan Mullin who was a marvellous player at a time when tries might not have been so commonplace. Still, I'll take it," he smiled.

As Ireland romped to a comprehensive win, the negatives were few basically down to uncharacteristic handling and passing errors from such quality players as O'Driscoll and David Humphreys and especially Denis Hickie.

During the first half, O'Driscoll's mistimed pass might have cost Ireland a try. Lip readers watching the video replay could clearly make out what he said to himself "dreadful".

The excuses were limited, the blame mainly centred on themselves, but the Mitre ball was also a talking point among players and spectators.

Italy's veteran outhalf and goal- kicking expert was said to have noted his displeasure at the use of this ball during the week. If he felt that way, then the Irish, used to playing with a Gilbert ball, must have been warned.

Humphreys was but he couldn't do much about it. "Normally I would have a pot at goal from anywhere near the half-way line, depending on the wind factor. I decided not to risk it from anything more than 40 metres with this ball.

"I suppose it all comes down to sponsorship as to what type of ball is used but I think there should be uniformity, and there is general agreement among players that the Gilbert ball is just about the best, the easiest to control and excellent to make maximum ground.

"We can't complain because it was the same for both teams and I think we saw that Dominguez, one of the best goal kickers, if not the best in the world, missed his target with a couple of easy kicks. If he has problems then we're all going to have problems."

Hickie made a similar point, but spoke about the difficulties of measuring the flight of the ball in open play.

"I'll put my hands up and admit I made a few silly errors, but one of them in particular was out of my control. I believe I judged the flight perfectly and just as I put my hands out the ball dipped away from me.

"I suppose it made me look a bit silly because it was in the middle of the pitch in open play and everyone had to see it. Still, these things happen sometimes. In certain games everything goes right and in others things can go wrong. A few things went wrong for me in this one."

A further talking point in the coming days will be the possible composition of the team to meet France and of the personnel in the two key positions of outhalf and fullback. Humphreys v Ronan O'Gara?

Man of the match winner Humphreys explained his position: "I got an unexpected opportunity before the Scottish match and another one this week. In that situation I could only go out and do my best. I will have to wait for another 10 days to learn whether this will be good enough to keep me in. It's not something I intend to dwell on. For now I can only reflect on the fact that I was happy with my form and I certainly enjoyed the two games."

Another opportunist was Geordan Murphy who came in as a wing replacement for the injured Shane Horgan in Scotland and was then moved to fullback when Girvan Dempsey withdrew from Saturday's side.

While Humphreys took the magnum of champagne, Murphy could easily have won instead. The Leicester player didn't put a foot wrong and revelled in the freedom he had to counter-attack from deep positions. His name will be right up in the list when Eddie O'Sullivan draws a final conclusion. But Murphy isn't taking much stock of the likely debate.

"Girvan was the man in possession and that will be taken into account. I did enjoy the run there. It's similar enough to playing on the wing these days but I suppose in this particular game I did get a little bit more space and I like that.

"The beauty of this Irish team is that there are some very good players, forwards and backs, around. There is strength in depth and more players than ever have been able to adapt to different roles as required. Moving positions is a challenge but a great experience and it gives the coaches more options."

To date it has been a great season. Eight successive victories is not to be sniffed at. No Irish team has ever done that before but the real tests remain.