Tries from Malcolm O'Kelly and Brian O'Driscoll secured the win for the hosts in a match made almost impossible by the gusty conditions at Lansdowne Road.

And although the Azzurri squandered chances of their own, as well as having a try ruled out, Kirwan was happy with the performance.

I think this was a great occasion, he told www.federugby.it. At the end of the first half I thought we would come away with a positive result, and had we scored the two tries which we missed, plus the one which was disallowed, things would have been different.

Still I'm very proud of my team. When a manager sees his side growing everyday the satisfaction is double.

Italian Rugby Federation president Giancarlo Dondi insisted the 16-point margin flattered their opponents.

Once again the final score has punished us, Dondi explained. And maybe we're suffering a bit too much.

The referee never awarded us one try and we missed a few others through our own mistakes.

But in my opinion the final score is too heavy. Sixteen points is too much for what we saw today.

After going behind 12-0 in the first half I thought in the second with the wind on our side we would go on to win the game.

But we threw away a great occasion without taking what we had created.