Dream debut for Lowry but confusion reigns as Ireland see off 13-man Italy

Ireland versus Italy would have seemed like an ideal game for Georgian referee Nika Amashukeli to make his Six Nations bow.

A gulf between the teams on paper, tension is rare when these two meet. If he could get through it without being the centre of attention, it would be a job well done.

Unfortunately for Amashukeli, he had to be the bad guy when his 18th minute red card of Italian hooker Hame Favia led to confusion both on the pitch and in the stands.

His decision was correct, and to his credit it was one that required him to dive deep into rugby's book of laws.

With Faiva sent off following a dangerous hit on Ireland's Dan Sheehan it left the Italians without a hooker, after their previous number two Gianmarco Lucchesi had suffered an early shoulder injury.

It meant we would have uncontested scrums for the final 62 minutes, but because of that Italy would have to be reduced to 13 players.

It took several minutes for the referee to explain the decision to captain Michele Lamaro, who had to send his number eight Toa Halafihi from the game, and prepare for more than an hour of rugby with a two-man disadvantage.

The Italians were confused, but the supporters even more so. Only those who purchased a ref-mic earpiece will have been privy to Amashukeli's conversations with Lamaro, and their confusion was audible after it was announced Italy would be further punished.

Already on a 34-game losing run in the Six Nations, Italy were doomed to a 35th in a row. What a way to bring up their century of defeats in the competition.

At the time of the red card Ireland were 7-3 in front, courtesy of Joey Carbery's fourth minute try, and with a two-man advantage they naturally cruised their way towards a nine-try 57-6 victory.

To compound the