Ireland's defeat of Italy keeps the home fires burning for March

Ireland 56 Italy 19: As an emotional Conor O’Shea assessed a seventh, consecutive Six Nations defeat on his watch, as Italy’s head coach, on Saturday night, he insisted the Azzurri had no option but to keep the head down and continue making the hard yards.

“Avanti. Avanti. Avanti. Forward. Forward. Forward,” he declared, for the benefit of Italian and Irish reporters alike.

The same applies to the team O’Shea once represented at full-back, and his opposite number, Joe Schmidt. Yet, where Italy lack confidence, and the depth to tweak selections, Ireland are doing quite nicely, as they head into a rest week after two winning rounds of the championship.