The Luck of the Irish in the form of Ronan O'Gara in Rome today Italy 11-13 Ireland

When you are expecting an easy match it is very easy to come down in the standard of rugby you play.

Credit to the Italian players and coach they were indeed a force to be reckoned with and the try in the second half was 20 minutes in the making.

Italy dominated the loose scrums the rucks as well as the set pieces and the line outs and the try in the dying minutes was the reward for such excellent play.

Ireland required a late drop goal from Ronan O'Gara to avoid a first defeat by Italy in the RBS 6 Nations.

The Azzurri crept 11-10 ahead in the 76th minute through a try from Luke McLean and one of the championship's greatest upsets looked likely.

But Ireland, who started as overwhelming 1/8 favourites, hit back two minutes later when O'Gara was on target from in front of the posts to edge the visitors to a 13-11 success

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It was dismal start to the campaign for a side hoping to be in the title mix, but there was nothing on show at the Stadio Flaminio to suggest they can win the Six Nations.

Brian O'Driscoll crossed in the 44th minute while Jonathan Sexton kicked five points, but it was otherwise a torrid afternoon for the 2009 champions.

O'Driscoll admitted Ireland had lacked the killer touch and was glad to have got off to a winning start despite a below-par performance.

"The longer they stayed in the game the more of a threat they were going to be," he said.

"We didn't kill them off and then we spilled the ball five metres out. You can't have those sort of mistakes in Test rugby. You don't get away with them.

"But it was a great result to be able to come back from that. We needed a drop goal in the last few minutes and we got it from Ronan.

"We made a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes today. But you can have a substandard performance and lose and have a substandard performance and win. Fortunately for us we won today but there is a lot of work to be done."

Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll could not hide his relief after Ronan O'Gara's last-gasp drop goal secured a great escape victory over Italy in the RBS 6 Nations.

Italy looked to have pulled off a shock win in Rome when Luke McLean's try four minutes from time edged them into an 11-10 lead.

But O'Gara spared Ireland's blushes by calmly landing a drop goal to snatch victory from the Italians.

O'Driscoll admitted Ireland had lacked the killer touch and was glad to have got off to a winning start despite a below-par performance.

"The longer they stayed in the game the more of a threat they were going to be," said O'Driscoll.

"We didn't kill them off and then we spilled the ball five metres out. You can't have those sort of mistakes in Test rugby. You don't get away with them.

"But it was a great result to be able to come back from that. We needed a drop goal in the last few minutes and we got it from Ronan.

"We made a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes today. But you can have a substandard performance and lose and have a substandard performance and win. Fortunately for us we won today but there is a lot of work to be done."

Willam Hayes

Buenos Aires

Source: Argentine Beef Packers S.A.