THIS was the performance we've been waiting for. An Irish backline packed full of off-the-cuff brilliance showed every ounce of their class in the Rome sunshine yesterday, ripping a tired Italy to shreds, particularly at the start of the second period where they conceived all sorts of magical scores from all sorts of improbable situations.

When you close your eyes and imagine what the likes of Ronan O'Gara, Denis Hickie, Brian O'Driscoll, Gordon D'Arcy, Shane Horgan and Girvan Dempsey are capable of in tandem, what we saw was something close to what you'd picture during your most imaginative daydream. Not for the first time in this Six Nations campaign, D'Arcy was Ireland's pivot.

His constant ability to beat the first tackle had Italian scrambling backwards all afternoon and while there are a handful of players in world rugby capable of doing just that, very few are as good as D'Arcy at linking up with their teammates afterwards.

Not that this was a one man show.

O'Driscoll, before he hobbled off with a nasty-looking knee injury with 20 minutes to go, was as good as we've seen him this spring, while Denis Hickie was once again in sublime running form. Give this guy more than a yard of space and he's capable of dissecting even the most potent defences, as he superb second try proved. All this sleight of hand and foot was underpinned by the straight running of Dempsey, who scored two of Ireland's eight tries in yet another outstanding display.

They odd thing about all this backline brilliance was that it didn't spring from a solid platform. The Irish pack, minus Paul O'Connell of course, were pretty much outplayed by their Italian counterparts, especially the superb Sergio Parisse, and the line-out was something close to a shambles, particularly in the first period when Rory Best couldn't buy a throw to any of his line-out jumpers. While O'Gara did get Ireland off and running early on with seventh minute penalty, Ireland's line-out troubles allowed Italy back into the game, providing them with vital possession.

A Kaine Robertson break, ably backed up by some powerful running from Sergio Parisse, allowed Romano Pez to fall back into the pocket and drop a goal from 20 yards out and five minutes later the Italian out-half slotted a penalty between the sticks after Simon Easterby was guilty of holding onto the ball on the ground.

Three points down, Ireland's electric backs had their say. A quick tap penalty in midfield by Leamy gave his side an attacking platform on the Italian 22 and O'Gara spotted space out left. Gordon D'Arcy's break past Mirco Bergamasco created the opening and then Hickie and O'Driscoll linked up brilliantly to put Girvan Dempsey away in the corner. It was brilliant rugby, even if there may have been a couple of forward passes in the move's final phase and their second try, eight minutes later, was just as good.

David Wallace was the instigator of it all, firstly when he stole the ball from the back of the Italian scrum, and then when he picked up at the bottom of a ruck to release Easterby. The flanker cleverly shifted the ball to Shane Horgan on the half-way line and the winger did exactly the right thing. He ran directly at Italian full-back Roland De Marigny and although the defender did well to stop him, the winger stood tall in the tackle and offloaded to the supporting Easterby. Clever stuff.

O'Gara uncharacteristically missed both conversions, giving the Italians just enough incentive to stay interested. They rolled up their sleeves and worked hard for their scores. Pez knocked over his second penalty on 29 minutes after Ireland collapsed a rolling maul and three minutes later the out-half struck his second drop-goal of the game, this one even more impressive than the first. Pez even had a chance to put his side in the lead two minutes into injury time but his penalty from near half-way slipped past the right hand post. It was the signal for Ireland to wake up.

Right on half-time, O'Gara slipped an inside pass to Hickie, who appeared to pass forward to the on-rushing D'Arcy. Referee Jonathan Kaplan, however, saw nothing wrong with this and the Irish centre slalomed his way through for Ireland's third try, even if he did have a bit of bother placing the ball down.

O'Gara converted this time to give Ireland a slightly flattering eight-point interval lead and straight after the interval they turned the screw. After a great Brian O'Driscoll break, D'Arcy decided to tap a penalty right in front of the posts and his speed of thought reaped its reward. When the ball was recycled from the centre's burst, O'Gara released Dempsey on his inside and there was no Italian cover there to halt his trot to the line.

They turned that screw even further. O'Driscoll did superbly to offload in the tackle to Denis Hickie, who in turn put Horgan away for Ireland's fifth try. Five minutes later, a double skip pass from O'Gara put Hickie away for a much deserved try and before the hour mark, the Irish out-half scored a try of his own after D'Arcy and O'Driscoll tore the Italian defence apart. The home side regrouped in the final quarter - Marco Bortolami scoring a nice try off a cross field kick - but Hickie, once again, teased and tormented Italy with a magical try from halfway.

With time almost up, Roland De Marigny inched his way over for a try that was converted by Andrea Scanavacca to narrow the gap to 27 points, but Ireland will be a little mad they didn't kick the ball dead when they had a chance.

It was the only slightly sour note on a magical afternoon of Irish attacking rugby.

SCORING SEQUENCE 6 mins R O'Gara pen, 0-3 12 mins R Pez drp gl, 3-3 15 mins R Pez pen, 6-3 17 mins G Dempsey try, 6-8 21 mins S Easterby try, 6-13 26 mins R Pez pen, 9-13 29 mins R Pez drp gl, 12-13 40 mins G D'Arcy try, 12-18; R O'Gara con, 1220 46 mins G Dempsey try, 12-25;

R O'Gara con, 12-27 52 mins S Horgan try, 12-32 55 mins D Hickie try, 12-37; R O'Gara con, 1239 58 mins R O'Gara try, con, 1246 75 mins R Bortolami try, 17-46 77 mins D Hickie try, 17-51 80 mins D Marigny try, 22-51; A Scanavacca con, 24-51