Six Nations: Playing against 12 men 'just weird', says Ireland's Andy Farrell
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Ireland were never in danger of losing the game in Dublin
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell said playing against an Italy side that finished their Six Nations meeting in Dublin with 12 men was "just weird".
The visitors were reduced to 13 after just 20 minutes before Braam Steyn's late yellow card as Ireland eased to a 57-6 win without hitting top gear.
"They [Italy] were sprinting out the line because they had nothing to lose," Farrell said.
"We were throwing the ball to the next guy that was under pressure at times.
"It took us a while to see the game for what it is."
The game was effectively ended as a contest after just 20 minutes when the dismissal of replacement hooker Hame Faiva prompted uncontested scrums, which meant Italy were forced to take a further player off reducing them to 13.
The visitors defended bravely and at times frustrated Ireland, who still managed to score nine tries despite falling well short of their best with the ball.
Six Nations highlights: Ireland 57-6 Italy
"Rightly so Italy were trying to slow the game down, it's what everyone would have done," Farrell reflected.
"When you've got uncontested scrums for so long within the game everyone's legs were nice and fresh, and it's the reason why Italy were nice and fresh in defence throughout, even when they went to 12 men.
"It's just weird. There's space that you think is there, and they're obviously always going to throw caution to the wind [with a] kamikaze-style defence at times in terms of whether they're flying up in the line and putting us under pressure where we needed to be more accurate.
"We understand why the rule was brought in but at the same time occasions like that will bring the rule back to everyone's attention and they'll look at it."
O'Mahony bemoans lack of Irish ruthlessness
The 51-point win means after three rounds Ireland have the best points difference in the tournament, but remain second behind the undefeated France.
The lack of scrums did not help what was a stop-start spectacle in Dublin, with sloppy Irish handling seeing multiple attacks break down with space on offer.
"There was a lot of waiting around with regard to what the ruling was and just the whole stop-start of the 20 minutes that surrounded it," said captain Peter O'Mahony, who scored his side's fourth try before half-time.
"We need to be better on the pitch about negotiating around what the opposition are presenting us.
"We want to be ruthless but we weren't certainly in the last 20 minutes of the first half and for parts of the second half.
"We should have made life a lot more difficult for a team that were down to 13, 12 players at one stage.
"We want to be ruthless but at times our actions let us down."
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