Victory at a price

IRELAND were as unpredictable as a Roman taxi driver at the Stadio Flaminio yesterday, but in the end they just about survived.

They mixed the excellent with the decidedly moderate, and coach Eddie O'Sullivan readily admitted they were more than happy to have this potential banana skin out of the way. "If the result had gone to the other way, we could not have complained," he admitted.

The brilliance of captain, Brian O'Driscoll, and at least three big refereeing decisions were crucial to a result that pays scant credit to the splendid efforts of the Azzurri. They scarcely deserved to lose by a margin of eleven points. On this display, they are no whipping boys, and will trouble a lot of teams as the campaign goes on, especially in Rome. They were terrific for most of the first half and refused to be daunted when the tide turned against them after Ireland were awarded a couple of debated tries.