Conor Murray and Tommy O'Donnell scored a try apiece and Ian Keatley kicked 14 points as Six Nations champions Ireland launched the defence of their title with an uneven performance in a 26-3 win over Italy at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday.
Ireland were shorn of several regulars who helped them secure last year's title as they travelled to the Italian capital intent on making amends for their 22-15 defeat to the Italians two years ago.
But any worries coach Joe Schmidt had about his young side were dispelled just after the hour mark when Murray then O'Donnell, a late replacement for Sean O'Brien after he suffered a twinge to his hamstring in the warm-up, touched down to put the match beyond the reach of the hosts.
Schmidt admitted O'Brien's absence had led to a "disjointed" first-half but he was quick to praise the new faces in his side.
"It's the first small step for them," said Schmidt.
"They get a little bit of confidence from being involved in the pressure cooker that is the Six Nations."
Ireland captain Paul O'Connell gave a special mention to O'Donnell, who held off at least two Italian players on his way to an impressive try.
"He's incredible. For a guy like Tommy to come in at the last minute shows how incredibly well he prepares for games," said O'Connell, who was winning his 97th cap.
"He makes those big carries for his club and it's great to see him doing it for Ireland."
Italy were denied a late try in the closing stages when captain Sergio Parisse knocked on just before fly-half Kelly Haimona went over the tryline.
The error capped what was a poor performance from the hosts, who took the wooden spoon last year and went on to win only one match, against Samoa, in 2014.
Parisse said he "did not" touch the ball, but admitted Italy, especially at the line-out, were simply not good enough.
"We had 30% possession and that's not enough to win matches," said Parisse.
"Ireland had a lot more possession, they stole a lot of line-outs. When you play against a team like Ireland you can't defend for 80 minutes.
"Obviously for next week we have to make big improvements in our ball possession and line-outs if we are going to be competitive at Twickenham (against England)."
Ireland are regarded as co-favourites for this year's title along with England and underlined those expectations by cruising to a victory that means they have now won eight consecutive games for the first time in six years.
But ahead of facing France next week, O'Connell admitted there is still room for improvement.
"There's a whole load of areas we can iprove on. A few, very simple things that are easily corrected. It would be great if we could eradicate that for next week against the French," he said.
From the off the Irish never looked in trouble, with several up and coming players -- Keatley, Murray and Jordi Murphy -- all stepping up to the plate in what was far from a flowing game of rugby.
Munster fly-half Keatley, given the nod over Ian Madigan, gave Ireland a 9-3 half-time lead after kicking three penalties with Haimona scoring one for the hosts on the stroke of half-time.
Ireland were a different team in the second half, pinning Italy back near the tryline for long spells and extending their lead just before the hour thanks to another Keatley penalty.
Ireland seized the game by the scruff of the neck in the space of two second-half minutes after Leonardo Ghiraldini was sin-binned on 63 minutes for an infringement at the maul.
Murray bundled the ball just over the tryline while under pressure, with Keatley adding the conversion for a 19-3 lead.
O'Donnell was only included in the starting XV at the last minute when O'Brien -- who has not played a test in over a year -- suffered an injury in the warm-up but made the most of his unanticipated appearance with a blistering run down the middle to touch down unchallenged on 66 minutes.
Madigan, who had replaced Keatley minutes earlier, fired over an easy conversion to rubber stamp the win.
Source: AFP