The IRFU may be disconnected from a chunk of their audience on the price of Test rugby at Lansdowne Road but at least those who ponied up large can claim to have witnessed a truly crazy event. Back in the 2013 Six Nations in Rome Ireland had their backline sundered by a freakish run of injuries, leaving holes being filled by men who didn’t know how to hold a shovel. But here, on a perfect night for rugby and with a game promising to develop into a gripping contest, we saw four players banished for crimes and misdemeanours in the first half alone. Mad stuff, at the end of which the world champions stumbled to a win that should have been managed with half the effort.

The passage to the overflowing sin bin was halted only by the half-time whistle, at which point the referee, Matt Carley, was

See Full Page