Ireland skipper Peter O'Mahony admitted it was a stuttering performance by his side despite scoring nine tries in a bonus point 57-6 victory over 13-man Italy at the Aviva Stadium.
Replacement hooker Hame Faiva's 19th minute red card for a high tackle on Dan Sheehan proved a double whammy for the visitors - as they also lost a second man in Toa Halafihi under world rugby rules.
“Red cards like that probably do games no favours, unfortunately," said O'Mahony. "I don’t think there is any intent there.
"It's getting difficult now.
"You’ve got to watch your tackle height but I don’t think there was any intent in it.
"It definitely disrupts the game but we tried to stay at it and credit to Italy, they go down like that and stick in there, it’s always going to be very difficult.
"We stuttered as well but with the stopping and starting it took some of the tempo out of it but 57 points, a bonus point, we have a lot to work on but a lot of positives as well."
Asked if it was confusing to see the Italians lose not one, but two men, in the incident, O'Mahony replied: “Yeah, it’s not something you plan for but you’ve got to navigate your way through and we probably could have done that a bit better.
"There’s lots to think and talk about but, again, bonus point at home. We’re delighted with the win at home.
“You have got to stay in the fight and do your role and stay in it. It’s a Six Nations game. It’s a huge tournament and a huge match for all of us.
"There’s guys getting opportunities, there’s guys coming back after injuries.
"It’s a huge game for guys coming off the bench because you’ve got to make an impact so it’s no different on the pitch. You have to play at a match intensity."
The big victory keeps Ireland in the hunt for championship honours if France slip up, and next up is England at Twickenham on Saturday week.
O'Mahony told Virgin Media: "It's always a big one for us.
"Every game in this tournament is huge for us now with the permutations of what could happen. We’re still in the fight.”
Man of the match Josh van der Flier added: “We are really pleased with the result, it was tough going for Italy, they did really well with 13 men for so long in that game, so a lot of credit goes to them.
"It was really sloppy from us at times. It was quite stop-start, Italy made it difficult for us.
“We definitely have a lot to improve on going into the England game.
“It's a pleasing result overall and credit to Italy for how they played out there.
“I'm absolutely loving playing with this group of players.”
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