By Simon Lewis
Key moment: Not only was it the try of the match and perhaps the championship so far but Jamie Heaslip's finish of a wonderful sweeping move that started with a Simon Zebo offload inside the Irish half put the game beyond a disappointing Italian side with 40 minutes still to play.
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Talking point: After three tough rounds and only a draw to show for it, Ireland finally got a victory as they routed Italy by nine tries to two but post-match Joe Schmidt was still emphasising the need for improvements ahead of next week's final game and the ill luck of the Italians for losing players early to injury. The humility is laudable but have coaches forgotten to enjoy the moment?
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Key man: Official man of the match Donnacha Ryan is finally hitting his stride once more, building on a strong showing against England with another wholehearted effort around the field and in a much improved Irish lineout.
The game also saw perhaps Simon Zebo's best 80 minutes in an Ireland jersey, justifying his selection at full-back in the absence of Rob Kearney
Ref watch: Australia's Angus Gardner was taking charge of his first all-tier one Test match and he equipped himself well, with no major controversies surrounding his decisions.
He might have done more to sanction the overly talkative Italy captain Sergio Parisse but overall he kept good control.
Penalties conceded: Ireland 9 Italy 9 + 2 free kicks
Injuries: Loosehead prop Cian Healy (hamstring) was a late withdrawal from the matchday squad but Joe Schmidt is hopeful he, Rob Kearney (hamstring) and Eoin Reddan (calf) will all be available for next weekend's final game.
There were two blood injuries during the game with Andrew Trimble and Robbie Henshaw both needing treatment before returning to complete the game.
Next up: Time to face the final curtain as Ireland head towards their final game of the 2016 RBS 6 Nations, a home battle for fourth place with Scotland at the Aviva next Saturday (5pm), while the Italians will look to avoid a whitewash against Wales in Cardiff (2:30pm)
