Was this champagne rugby or more an affordable prosecco? Ireland emphatically triumphed in a match they had to win and extended Italy’s Six Nations losing streak to 30. Johnny Sexton may be displaying a few grey hairs these days but he remains one of the world’s finest fly-halves and his prompting with the ball in hand and flawless kicking, combined with Ireland’s forward muscle, was too much for the Azzurri. The hosts again showed passion and positive intent, but no victory in this competition since February 2015 tells its own story. “I’m really proud of the players,” said the Ireland coach, Andy Farrell, who had overseen their worst start to a Six Nations – two defeats and two tries scored – before this trip to Rome. “It’s not nice coming off two losses and waiting a couple of weeks to try and put it right. We talked about it as a test of character, and they’ve stayed strong, stayed united.” The afternoon started badly for Franco Smith’s men: Gloucester scrum-half Stephen Varney was injured in the warm-up, replaced by Callum Braley. Paolo Garbisi’s early penalty was encouraging but when Luca Bigi went offside and Sexton registered the first kick of a nerveless display (six conversions and two penalties), the momentum shifted. Iain Henderson soon touched down but the TMO, Romain Poite, inexplicably decided he had lost control. With 10 minutes gone Garry Ringrose’s try displayed the clinical edge Farrell had wanted. After a clever feint by Sexton, Ringrose busted a tackle by Monty Ioane, and Ireland were on their way. The scrum-half, Jamison Gibson-Park, Sexton and Jordan Larmour soon stretched the Italian defence on the right: Sexton teed up Ringrose, whose offload sent the full-back, Hugo Keenan, roaring to the line. Passes from Gibson-Park and Sexton were starting to fizz as half-time approached. The Ireland No 7 Will Connors sprinted over in the corner and the match looked over at 27-3 but Italy, admirably, struck back with the clock in the red. An attacking lineout was executed perfectly, Garbisi had numbers outside, and Johan Meyer barrelled over. Italy desperately needed it and Garbisi added an excellent conversion. CJ Stander resumed Ireland’s dominance by powering over for the fourth try, securing the bonus point, two minutes after the break. One of four Italian changes, Cherif Traore, introduced his own dynamism and hammered through a challenge by Stander but that was all Italy had to show for the third quarter. Giosuè Zilocchi was sent to the sin-bin with 20 minutes left before another Stander effort was ruled out by the TMO for a knock-on by Ronan Kelleher. In the final quarter, the Munster No 9, Craig Casey, and Ryan Baird, of Leinster, were introduced for debuts. Casey was darting around a rolling maul when Connors grabbed the ball and flopped over for his second. Ireland wanted more, and James Lowe’s score was chalked off for a forward pass. The replacement, Keith Earls, crossed thanks to another accomplished delivery by Sexton but the victory and bonus point had long since been secured. “We earned the right to score points in the first half,” added Farrell. “We paid the game the right respect, and Italy the right respect. I thought we punched away really well in the first half and the game opened up in the end.”