Six Nations: Ireland stroll past 12-man Italy with 57-6 win

Ireland defeated Italy to win the 100th Six Nations match.

The hosts had a two-man advantage for 60 minutes after Faiva was sent off.

Italy had to take off another player because of his dismissal.

The game ended with 12 men after Braam Steyn was sent off.

Ireland ran in nine tries to boost their points difference as they bounced back from their defeat in Paris two weeks ago.

Italy never had a chance of avoiding the grim landmark of a century of tournament defeats because of the double-whammy of losing two players after just a quarter of the game.

Italy have not won in the competition since 2015, while Ireland have not won in the competition in over a year.

Italy reduced to 13 men after opening quarter

Italy had little more than a puncher's chance of winning, according to the respective form of both sides going into the contest. It would have taken 80 minutes for them to leave Dublin with a win.

Replacing the injured Gianmarco Lucchesi, replacement hooker Faiva was shown red for making contact with the head of Dan Sheehan.

The ref called for scrums with no other hooker to replace Faiva. Italy lost Faiva and had to replace him with another player because they forced scrums.

The realization that the game was over immediately hit everyone inside the stadium. It was a shame that the opening quarter had been a competitive one with Italy's defence giving as good as it got.

Ireland had struggled to control the contest despite Joey Carbery's fourth minute try.

With a two-man advantage, space to run into was no longer a problem.

Ireland scored three more tries before the break to get the bonus point. The loudest cheer was reserved for debutant Lowry, who showed the quick feet that have made him a crowd favourite at Ulster to jink his way into space before finishing.

Ireland put the game out of sight by the interval with the help of Peter O& Mahony and Jamison Gibson-Park.

Irish struggle for rhythm in attack

Italy will be happy with how they battled, but Ireland will know they need to play better if they want to win the game.

Italy had the chance to score the first points of the second half, but Paolo Garbisi missed his penalty.

Unable to establish dominance at the depowered scrum, Ireland failed to find a rhythm in a game they were never going to lose.

Still, the tries continued to come at irregular intervals, with Lowe strolling across the line having been found in acres of space by Gibson-Park.

The highlight for the hosts was the two-try display of Lowry. The 23-year-old profited from the increased space on offer to collect Johnny Sexton's pass, throw a dummy and slide in for his second try.

Andy Farrell made six changes from the defeat in Paris and three of them were rookies. Ryan Baird scored Ireland's seventh try when he charged down a box kick on the hour mark.

The space that was opening up as the game went on was not a surprise because Italy had been in damage limitation mode since the 20th minute.

In a desperate attempt to stop Mack Hansen adding another score, Braam Steyn deliberately knocked the ball forward into touch, receiving a yellow card in the 75th minute to see his side go down to just 12 men.

Ireland scored twice more in the last five minutes, the first through Lowe who accepted the pass and the second through the full-back, who could have backed himself for a hat-trick.

The final punch game was played by replacement lock KIERAN TREADWELL, who drove over in the last second of the game for his side's ninth try.

Ireland: Henshaw, Ringrose, Henshaw, Lowe, Carbery, Porter, Sheehan, Furlong, Beirne, Baird, O'Mahony, van der Flier.

The replacements were Herring, Kilcoyne, Bealham, Treadwell, Conan, andCasey.

Italy has: Bruno, Brex, Marin, Ioane, Varney, Fischetti, Lucchesi, Ceccarelli, Cannone, Ruzza, Pettinelli and Lamaro.

Replacements include Faiva, Sisi, Zuliani, Fusco, and Zanon.