Ireland stuck to the task and eventually the flood-gates opened with Tommy Bowe scoring twice and both Tom Court and Andrew Trimble crossing late on, adding to Earls’ earlier try.

Jonathan Sexton delivered a 17-point haul with the boot and Earls believes the determined triumph has got the adrenalin pumping ahead weekend's re-arranged trip to Paris, where the men in green bid to halt France’s winning start.

"We're happy. That was a big scoreline for us against Italy," Earls told the Irish Independent.

"After the Welsh game we wanted to go out and prove ourselves.

"Not much was said at half-time. We knew it was going to take 60-odd minutes to break Italy down.

"We got in some good positions in the field in the first half but their defence was good and there were a couple of mistakes from ourselves.

"We knew we had to be direct in the second half, which we did and the scores came from that.

"The second half was a lot better and we got our second wind and some good scores. The back line clicked so it was good.

"There were a lot of bruised bodies at the end because it was so physical, but we're happy.

"It's a good note on which to be going to the Stade de France next week."