On occasion things looked like stalling completely but by game's end, enough of those first-day cobwebs were hosed away to ensure the 10point victory, yet it was the Italians who shuffled away from the stadium feeling short-changed with coach Pierre Berbizier questioning the legality of Ireland's two tries. There are strong question marks over Jerry Flannery's opening try, while video evidence seemed to conclusively prove that Tommy Bowe failed to ground the ball for Ireland's second try in the 47th minute.

Berbizier was adamant that the video referee should have been consulted. "I have seen the video of Ireland's second and it is certainly not a try and I want to see their first try, " he said. "We were competitive today and for us it was an opportunity to win."

Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan, who described the encounter as "a tough day at the office", said the important thing was his side kept its composure to win. "It was a tough game, the Italians played well and got in among us, " he said. "We struggled to get into the momentum of the game and it was a pretty ugly game but that's the way it turned out.

"The Italian line-out was good, they held onto the ball and recycled well. Their halfbacks kicked smartly. The first 20 minutes we didn't get into it which was disappointing and frustrating. The second half we were a bit smarter, we put the ball into the corner and wore them down."

O'Sullivan also drew attention to a biting incident close to the end of the game. "An Irish player was bitten by an Italian player, " he said, before confirming it was Simon Easterby who was at the receiving end of the incident.

Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll wasn't surprised by the fire shown by the Italians. "It wasn't a shock to the system, " he said. "They cut our space down but it was exactly what we expected before kick-off."

He was also glad to be back on the international stage. "It wasn't one of the more intense internationals in that it wasn't as free flowing as you'd have on another day.

But it's one more game towards where I want to be fitness wise."