Ireland cruised to a bonus-point 57-6 win over Italy in the Six Nations after a contentious red card left the Azzurri with 13 men.
Italy were always expected to slump to a heavy defeat in Dublin, having done so against both France and England, and their hopes of an upset were essentially ended in the 19th minute when Hame Faiva, on as a replacement hooker for Gianmarco Lucchesi, was sent off.
Faiva was deemed to have made dangerous shoulder-to-chin contact in a tackle on Dan Sheehan, his subsequent dismissal and the World Rugby requirement for hooker-less Italy to be a man down in an uncontested scrum in such circumstances reducing them to 13 men.
From that point, the game was over as a contest, Ireland running in nine tries to make it two wins from three and keep their hopes of Six Nations glory firmly intact as they leapfrogged England into second behind unbeaten France.
Joey Carbery crawled over the line to open the scoring after an Ireland break in the third minute.
Italy answered through Edoardo Padovani's long-range penalty, but the game was settled for all intents and purposes when the officials decided to dismiss Faiva after a long discussion with the TMO despite a seemingly innocuous tackle appearing to have done no damage to Sheehan.
It prompted another prolonged discussion at the scrum as referee Nika Amashukeli explained Italy's secondary punishment, which was soon followed by Jamison Gibson-Park going over for Ireland's second try.
A predictable Ireland overlap saw Michael Lowry cross, the bonus-point try then coming from Peter O'Mahony before Padovani gave Italy some cheer with another penalty before the break.
The rout continued thereafter, though, James Lowe strolling over out wide before Lowry added his second and Ryan Baird charged down an Italy kick to scoop up and dot down.
Italy were then reduced to 12 men as the game finished in farce with Braam Steyn shown a yellow card for batting the ball out of play. Lowe's easy second try took Ireland to the half-century mark and Kieran Treadwell had the final say against a shattered Italy defence.
Unwanted century comes in ruined spectacle
Italy's defeat marked their 100th in the Six Nations, but that unwanted milestone will be overshadowed by the officiating controversy in the first half.
In the circumstances of both the red card and reducing Italy to 13 men, Amashukeli was bound by the rules, but Italy being punished twice for a decision that was marginal at best was extremely harsh and ruined the game as a spectacle.
Ireland home comforts continue
Ireland have now lost just two of their past 23 home matches in the Six Nations, and few have come easier than this victory against an outnumbered Italy side.
Key Opta Facts
Ireland's 51-point victory against Italy was their second biggest in the Five/Six Nations, after their 63-10 win against the Azzurri back in 2017.
Faiva's red card was Italy's fourth in the Six Nations, drawing level with Scotland as the teams to have had the most men sent off in the Championship since 2000.
Caelan Doris gained 96 metres in this game, the most by a forward in a Six Nations match since Louis Picamoles gained 131 against England in 2017 and the most by an Ireland forward since both Denis Leamy (120) and David Wallace (104) gained 100+ metres against France in 2006.
Gibson-Park scored and assisted a try in this game and now has four try involvements in this year's Six Nations (2 tries, 2 assists), the joint most of any player alongside France's Damian Penaud (3T 1A).
What's next?
Italy host Scotland in Rome on March 12, when Ireland face a pivotal blockbuster clash with England at Twickenham.
