DUBLIN (AP) — An injury scare for back-rower Jack Conan took the shine off Ireland's comfortable 33-17 win over Italy in a Rugby World Cup warmup at Lansdowne Road on Saturday.
Conan departed shortly before halftime and was later pictured in a protective boot on the bench.
Fullback Jimmy O'Brien and scrumhalf Craig Casey were also withdrawn for treatment to give coach Andy Farrell cause for concern just five weeks before the World Cup in France.
An experimental side missing rested stars plus suspended captain Jonathan Sexton overcame a sloppy beginning to cruise to a 15th successive home victory.
“It's great be up and running,” man of the match Caelan Doris said. “Hopefully the rust will come off and we'll put in better performances.”
Doris' two tries, plus scores from Dave Kilcoyne, Stuart McCloskey and Cian Healy earned the victory, while Jack Crowley and debutant Ciaran Frawley shared eight points from the boot.
Substitute Lorenzo Pani and midfielder Tommaso Menoncello claimed consolation tries for Italy, which trailed 21-3 at halftime.
Farrell retained only three players who started the Six Nations Grand Slam clincher in March against England, while Italy included England-born debutants Paolo Odogwu and Dino Lamb in a strong selection.
Italy lost Saracens prop Marco Riccioni to injury inside 10 minutes and that setback was quickly compounded by Kilcoyne burrowing over at the other end to register his first test try since 2014.
The score settled Ireland down to an extent and they capitalized on Italian indiscipline just before the half-hour mark when Doris crashed over wide on the right, moments after Italy loosehead Danilo Fischetti was sin-binned for failing to retreat.
Conan’s 35th-minute departure was an unwelcome sight for Farrell but the hosts’ performance continued to improve, with Doris proving to be a real menace.
Doris, selected in the unfamiliar position of openside flanker, produced a crushing tackle on scrumhalf Stephen Varney deep inside Italian territory to pave the way for McCloskey to power over.
Crowley's third conversion made it 21-3 at the interval.
Farrell shuffled his pack slightly for the restart, introducing the uncapped Frawley at flyhalf and pushing Crowley to fullback in place of the withdrawn O'Brien, who had a shoulder issue.
A further change was required just four minutes later as scrumhalf Casey followed Conan and O'Brien into the treatment room.
Italy, whose only Dublin success came in 1997, reduced their deficit in the 51st when Pani was afforded yards of space on the right to charge forward and hold off the attempts of Jacob Stockdale.
Replacement prop Healy then celebrated moving level with Rory Best as Ireland's third most-capped player on 124 appearances with his 12th international try.
Menoncello again reduced the arrears for Italy 12 minutes from time before the impressive Doris had the final say.
Following a weeklong training camp in Portugal, Ireland move to matches against England and Samoa with plenty of positives but some fitness concerns.
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