It was a comfortable afternoon for Ireland in Rome, with Andy Farrell's side running out 48-10 winners over Italy.
They played some excellent attacking rugby at times, with the scoreline in no way flattering the visitors.
Italy were certainly in the game in the early stages. They launched a couple of assaults on the Irish line, none of which came off. They were also helped by some questionable officiating.
Ireland were convinced they had scored the opening try of the game in the ninth minute, with Iain Henderson seemingly touching down despite pressure from the Italian defenders.
The referee originally felt that Henderson had knocked the ball on, a call that was understandable in real time. However, replays clearly showed that the Ulster man had control of the ball when it was touched down.
Despite this, TMO Romain Poite said that the knock-on was the correct call. We're not sure how he came to that conclusion, an opinion shared by Johnny Sexton.
"Thank you very much. End of discussion."
Iain Henderson thought he'd scored Ireland's first try, but nothing given. Ringrose did touch down just minutes later.#ITAvIRE #GuinnessSixNations #VMTVRugby pic.twitter.com/r9o9ULZu0i— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) February 27, 2021
This decision made little difference in the end, but it was still discussed in the Sexton's post-match interview.
The Ireland captain said he was unaware that Poite was the TMO on the day and certainly still felt that it was a try.
"Was he the TMO? I didn't know it was Romain. I thought it was a try, thankfully it didn't matter."
Johnny Sexton reacts to Ireland's win in Rome and that early Iain Henderson effort that wasn't given.#ITAvIRE #GuinnessSixNations #VMTVRugby pic.twitter.com/jCSmluKBhC— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) February 27, 2021
Was he the TMO? I didn't know it was Romain.
I thought it was a try early on, but thankfully it didn't matter because we scored straight after.
It was a good reaction by the boys because sometimes when you get a decision that you feel you deserve you can get a bit distracted. I've been there before, I was probably a little bit distracted myself for a while.
We're very happy to come over here. They're a very good and well coached side.
Unsurprisingly, Poite's decision received plenty of criticism in this part of the world.
How on earth can they miss that? Mind blowingly incompetent.
— Andrew Trimble (@andrew_trimble) February 27, 2021
There’s a word I like using when faced with the kind of incompetence shown by the referees around that Henderson try.
It’s boobery.
A display of pure boobery.#ITAvIRE— Dan Mooney (@danielmoonbags) February 27, 2021
We already look forward to seeing him involved in another Ireland game.
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