Ireland stay on course after six-try hammering of Italy

Ireland scored six tries as they demolished a poor Italy outfit at the Aviva Stadium to stay on course for a Guinness Six Nations championship.

It was a case of job done for Andy Farrell's men but it was far from perfect as they recorded a record tenth straight championship victory.

Having made six changes to the side that opened the campaign with a win in France, Ireland played well in patches without delivering the consistency that Farrell would have craved in advance.

However, they were never seriously threatened by a limited Azzurri side who only got inside the Irish 22 twice in the whole match.

First-half tries from Jack Crowley, Dan Sheehan and Jack Conan had Ireland ahead 19-0 at the break and Sheehan, player of the match James Lowe and Calvin Nash dotted down in the second half to complete the rout.

Ireland sit top of the table on 10 points after two rounds, two ahead of England.

Two moments of quality lit up an otherwise drab first half that stuttered along in front of a notably quiet crowd on a sunny afternoon in Dublin 4.

Paolo Garbisi had screwed an early penalty wide before the crowd had something to cheer about.

Ireland's first try was built in Leinster and finished in Munster. Hugo Keenan tapped a mark quickly in his own 22 and set off leaving a handful of Italy players in his wake.

Fine running lines saw Robbie Henshaw twice punch holes in the Azzurri defence and Ireland took full advantage.

At the end of 13 phases, Craig Casey, Nash and Crowley combined to send the out-half over for his first try in green in the seventh minute.

However, a poor connection meant the try went unconverted.

That flurry of action suggested that the crowd were in for a treat, but instead Gonzalo Quesada's men kept Ireland scoreless and