"Yeah, we cut loose in the second half, but we set it up by defending so well and scoring three tries in the first. We sort of cut loose in the second half and had a real purple patch with five tries. Up to this game we had only conceded three tries in four games and that proves how crucial good defending is. All I asked was that we give ourself a chance, and in fairness we did that."

Centre Gordon D'Arcy was pleased with the way the side attacked. Ireland went into the game needing a big win to put the pressure on championship rivals France and England, ran out 51-24 winners as they showed off their attacking flair with tries from Girvan Dempsey, Denis Hickie (two each), Simon Easterby, Shane Horgan and Ronan O'Gara.

D'Arcy also crossed after a great individual break and afterwards claimed the team had set out with the intention of running in tries from every angle.

"We put Italy under the screw from the word go, we had to not make mistakes and kick all our penalties. We were disappointed to let them in for two tries at the end.

The crowd were great though, we've always said the Irish fans are some of the best in the world."

Alessandro Troncon claimed Italy were leaving the 2007 RBS 6 Nations with heads held high despite the loss against Ireland "It didn't go the way we wanted but this is sport, " said Italy scrum-half Troncon.

"We have to compliment Ireland, they have shown themsleves to be a great team.

We must understand that we are playing at the highest level and when you make mistakes against great teams, you pay."

The Azzurri ended the tournament having achieved their best record since joining the tournament in 2000.