Ireland winger Jacob Stockdale scored his 14th try in 17 games when he pounced on an Italian mistake to race through and score at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
Ireland took the lead through an 11th minute Quinn Roux try before Stockdale crossed for what was ultimately a rather easy try as Italy's defence capitulated just seconds after Tommaso Allan had converted a penalty for the hosts.
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A second penalty from Allan brought Italy to within a converted try of the lead and two tries from Edoardo Padovani and Luca Morisi ensured that the Italians would take a shock lead into half-time.
Stockdale has been a revelation for Ireland since making his international debut during the 2017 November internationals and he insisted that the national team were not the finished product after their opening round defeat to England, but added that he never wants to experience a loss like that again.
"Look we know we’re a good side and we want to make sure we don’t let ourselves down on the pitch," said Stockdale.
“But we know we’re not the finished product, and I don’t think anybody here has ever claimed us to be.
“So we’re still trying to work and still trying to improve. You learn probably more from losing than you do winning. For me personally that’s a massive point – I don’t want that to ever happen again.
“So I’m going to work twice as hard to make sure it doesn’t."
