Ruthless Ireland leave Italy chasing shadows

RBS Six Nations

The sluggish start that undid Joe Schmidt’s much-fancied side in Scotland in round one of this RBS 6 Nations may still come back to hurt their title aspirations but in hammering Italy at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday, Ireland have at least restored a little of their mojo heading into the final three games of the 2017 Championship.

As if jolted into life by an early morning double espresso on the Via Veneto, Ireland atoned for their opening-day 27-22 loss at Murrayfield the previous week.