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O'Connell and O'Driscoll combine to halt Luke McLean. Colm O'Neill/INPHO
Talking Points

5 things we learned from Ireland's seven-try win over Italy

O’Driscoll shows his class, Italians fade after Irish onslaught and Joe Schmidt’s men are showing consistency.

There’s plenty of life left in ‘the master’ yet

One couldn’t have written the script any more perfectly, barring the inclusion of a try to top off Brian O’Driscoll’s excellent individual display. ‘The master’, as Joe Schmidt referred to him after this 46-7 success against Italy, showed all of his creative expertise with three wonderful assists.

The 35-year-old came through his 60 minutes unscathed in a physical sense too, even if he did take a blow in the lead-up to Jonny Sexton’s second try. O’Driscoll is on form and ready for his final international outing next weekend in Paris. His contribution is likely to be decisive yet again.

The old cliché rings true against Italy

The old adage of Italy remaining fiercely competitive for the opening 50 minutes or so before fading away was played out at the Aviva Stadium, if not in as customary a fashion as in the past. Jacques Brunel’s side had just 25% of the possession this afternoon, and were forced into making a total of 208 tackles.

O’Driscoll pointed out afterwards that attacking is much less taxing on players’ fitness than defending for extended periods of time, and that was apparent in the closing stages of this game. Ireland ran in five tries in the final 30 minutes of the game as their increase in tempo was matched by an understandable reduction in Italian work rate.

Collective responsibility is becoming a hallmark of this team

Leonardo Ghiraldini charges at Devin Toner Devin Toner got through another heavy workload for Ireland. Colm O'Neill / INPHO Colm O'Neill / INPHO / INPHO

Chris Henry and O’Driscoll led the charge in terms of rucking and breakdown work for Ireland, but everyone contributed to this area of the game. Schmidt expects his back three to clean out rucks as effectively as his back row, with Dave Kearney and Andrew Trimble stepping up to the mark in that regard.

With no Sean O’Brien this season, there is a focal ball carrying threat missing but the likes of Cian Healy, Jamie Heaslip and Gordon D’Arcy are sharing out that responsibility. Against Italy, Devin Toner made 17 carries, while Rhys Ruddock and Jack McGrath were effective off the bench too.

Ireland travel to Paris with points difference taken care of

Ireland now sit top of the Six Nations table with a points difference of +81, comparing favourable to England’s +21 and Wales’ +6. Barring an absolute freak result at Twickenham tomorrow, it appears likely that Schmidt’s men will not lose this title if they can secure a win next Saturday.

Having scanned an eye over the unimpressive French performance against Scotland, Schmidt will now back himself to pick out the weaknesses in Philippe Saint-André’s team. History is against Ireland in Paris and France seem likely to produce their best performance of the championship, but Schmidt has the better collective unit.

There is a sense of consistency about Ireland now

Fergus McFadden celebrates his try Fergus McFadden celebrates his late try. Colm O'Neill / INPHO Colm O'Neill / INPHO / INPHO

It’s difficult to judge how far along the line of progress this Ireland team is now, but we can at least say that they have put together five back-to-back performances. Even if every part of those displays has not been perfect, the base level has certainly increased this season.

Having most of his key men fit has helped Schmidt to drive and maintain the standards, but the Kiwi deserves credit for his work too. However, the real test of whether Ireland have found true consistency comes in a high pressure game next weekend.

What did you learn from Ireland’s victory over Italy this afternoon? All thoughts are welcome…

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