LUKE FITZGERALD had not visited Rome since he was a young lad, but after his two tries in Ireland’s emphatic 38-9 win over Italy yesterday he freely admits to looking forward to his next trip to the Eternal City. He might have been here this weekend on a serious “mission”, but he still took time to walk around the Centro Storico on Saturday night. Given the way he played yesterday, the sights of ancient Rome have clearly done his rugby game no harm.

Looking sharp and fresh, not at all like someone who had just played through a tough physical game, he offered an understandably upbeat post-match analysis. He was not saying it, but the sensation is that this Irish team is beginning to build up some serious momentum. “I think, overall, it was a good old trip to Rome. They are a very physically imposing team and difficult to break down. You saw that last week against England even if the scoreline did not show it – a lot of England’s points came from Italian mistakes.

“Physical games like this one are some of the most enjoyable ones, especially when you come out on the right side. But you have to work really hard at it, you have to outwork them and I think that’s what we did today, there was massive work done by the pack. They put their heart and soul into it and, thank God, we came out on the right side.”

Fitzgerald felt Ireland were not flattered by the final scoreline.

“I thought we took our opportunities very well and I would hate to seem disrespectful of the Italians by saying that they were no good. I thought they played very well, but we took our opportunities really well and that was more a testament to us than to them.”

He agreed that his first try just before half-time was probably the killer blow as far as Italy were concerned.

The impact of a try that took the score from 9-7 in Italy’s favour to 9-14 was doubly crippling, not only because it came just before half-time but also because it came after five minutes of sustained Irish pressure that the plucky Italian defence simply could not stand up to. “I think that try was a killer blow because we had held onto the ball for so long and that was very draining for them.

“If we hadn’t got a score then and they had gone into half-time still in the lead, that would have given them a massive boost.

“But it went the other way and we got a massive boost just before half-time.”

Fitzgerald’s thoughts now turn to the next assignment, against England. “England are always tough to beat no matter how they are playing at the moment. I know they are getting a bit of stick from their own media, but from what I can see, they look very imposing, very physically tough.

“And they have mixed those qualities with some fantastic finishers like Paul Sackey and Mark Cueto, so I think they have a good blend and they will be tough to beat.

“I thought England were a bit unlucky against Wales yesterday, even if the Welsh were clearly very good and took their chances well . . . if one or two things had gone England’s way it could have been a very different day.”