Ireland's hopes of putting their World Cup nightmare finally behind them suffered a setback on Saturday when they stumbled to a 16-11 victory over Italy in their Six Nations opener.
Both sides scored a try apiece -- Girvan Dempsey for the Irish and Italian captain Sergio Parisse -- but it was thanks to Ronan O'Gara's 11 points that the hosts eked out a barely deserved win with virtually the same team that destroyed the same opponents 51-24 in last season's Six Nations.
The first half of the game, which was preceded by a minute's silence in honor of the father of Italian prop Carlos Nieto who died during the week, was a flat affair.
However, O'Gara eventually put the hosts on the board as he slotted over a penalty in the 11th minute, much to the relief of the Croke Park crowd.
Ireland could well have grabbed the opening try in the 15th minute had Geordan Murphy not spoilt his excellent catch out on the left wing by then passing the ball behind Dempsey, who had a clear run to the line.
Nevertheless Dempsey did cross the tryline three minutes later after a superbly worked try.
O'Gara chipped over the Italian defense, Andrew Trimble caught it and unselfishly passed inside to the Leinster full-back, who touched down.
By the end of the half, and despite having been reduced to 14 men after lock Santiago Dellape was sin-binned, a penalty by David Bortolussi saw Italy go in only 10-3 down.
After man of the match Eoin Reddan's pass had been deliberately knocked forward by an Italian defender, O'Gara added a penalty to make it 13-3.
The Italians, though, were not cowed and with an hour gone pulled to within five points as Parisse was credited with a try after much deliberation.
The lead was reduced to five points with 10 minutes left as Bortolussi converted an easy penalty.
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