O'Driscoll banks win after sin bin
DUBLIN, Ireland -- Skipper Brian O'Driscoll scored a try but was also sin-binned as Ireland beat Italy 19-3 in a windswept, error-strewn Six Nations encounter on Saturday.
Malcolm O'Kelly and Shane Horgan also went over with Ronan O'Gara kicking two conversions. Italy's points came from a Roland de Marigny penalty.
Italy, playing into a gale during the first half in Dublin, kept things tight but their spoiling led to hooker Fabio Ongaro being yellow-carded for collapsing a maul.
Despite running the match from the kick-off, it took Ireland a full half-hour to open the scoring and when they finally made the breakthrough it came from an abysmal Italian error.
With Ongaro sin-binned, substitute number eight Carlo Festuccia tried to surprise the Irish with a short line-out yards from his own tryline but succeeded only in wrong-footing his team mates.
Irish lock O'Kelly stooped to collect the low throw and hurled himself over the line for the simplest of tries.
Ireland's second, seven minutes later, was a different story and proved once again why O'Driscoll is one of the most feared opponents in world rugby.
Picking up the ball in front of the posts, he drifted leftwards and befuddled the defense with a series of subtle dummies and feints before squeezing home for his third try of the tournament.
O'Gara converted despite the atrocious conditions and nearly extended Ireland's lead on the stroke of halftime with a penalty which bounced back off the left upright.
Ireland kept up the pressure after the break and scored again after 54 minutes, winger Horgan puncturing the Italian defence with a well-timed run onto an O'Gara cut-out pass to score under the posts. O'Gara converted for 19-0.
On the hour mark, Italy came desperately close to replying when Marco Bortolami fed winger Denis Dallan with a short pass just yards from the tryline.
All Dallan had to do was catch the ball and fall to the ground but he fumbled it.
O'Driscoll was sent to the sin bin for a neck-high tackle on scrumhalf Paul Griffen and, in his absence, Italy finally got on the board when flyhalf de Marigny converted a 72nd minute penalty.
