Ireland kicked off their Six Nations campaign with a 16-11 over Italy at Croke Park on Saturday, but the hosts' slipshod performance will fail to soothe fans eager to exorcise memories of the World Cup.
But any subsequent Irish autopsy must take into account a fine performance from the visitors.
Italy's set-piece work was exemplary and their physicality at the breakdown bullied the Irish out of the game. Adrift 10-3 at the break, they rallied to win the second half by a fair distance.
The Croke Park clash certainly wasn't a good advertisement for Irish rugby and Ireland's full redemption will have to wait a little while longer -- relief will have to do for now.
After an encouraging start, the hosts were left hanging on for dear life after a late rally from the visitors so nearly resulted in one of the biggest upset of the tournament's 125 year history.
The muted reception they received from their own fans at the final whistle told much of the hard work that lies ahead for Eddie O'Sullivan and his team.
At the conclusion of O'Sullivan's 74th match in charge, and with one ear already on the chopping block, his 79th match -- against England on the final weekend of the tournament -- might just be his last.
In a game which reminded one of the Six Nations clashes of yore, both sides scrapped and scrapped and despite a stranglehold on possession and territory in the opening half, Ireland failed to make use of their try-scoring chances -- Nick Mallett's troops were tackling everything in sight.
After a nervous opening, O'Sullivan's charges began to loosen up and began stretching the Italy defence with Ronan O'Gara's cross-kicks proving too much to handle for the visitor's back three.
Barnstorming breaks by Girvan Dempsey and Geordan Murphy saw Ireland stride deep into the Italian half, and a repeat of the eight-try 51-24 win in Rome a year ago looked on the cards.
However, with the try-line in sight, misjudged kicks and mistimed passes led to Italy breathing a sigh of relief while the 72,000 strong home crowd were left breathing a sigh of frustration.
Even more so when an early turnover offered Ireland another chance to launch a counter-attack and they responded superbly with Denis Leamy and O'Gara slipping through gaps close to the breakdown.
Brian O'Driscoll was on his own when the ball was spun right but a clever chip by the Ireland skipper sent Italy scrambling backwards and flanker Josh Sole was on hand to avert the danger when Andrew Trimble came up with the ball.
Sole's try-saving tackle was then countered with a stray boot by scrum-half Pietro Travagli on Leamy and the resulting penalty from O'Gara nudged Ireland ahead 3-0 with twelve minutes gone on the clock.
The hosts then surged to a 10-0 lead when O'Gara landed another crossfield kick, this time into the hands of Trimble, who rode Mauro Bergamasco's tackle before offloading to Dempsey, who sped home for a fantastic opening try.
O'Gara added the extras to take him to 400 points in the Six Nations and the home team finally looked to have their mojo back.
Mallett was quick to make the necessary changes and struggling wing Pablo Canavosio was given his marching orders after one missed tackle too many.
Ireland also were forced into a sudden replacement when Gordon D'Arcy left the field clutching his wrist after clashing awkwardly with Andrea Masi in another one of the pivot's sniping runs.
In obvious discomfort, D'Arcy stumbled from the pitch with Rob Kearney slotting on the wing and Trimble switching to inside centre.
With ten minutes of the half still left to play, Italy stepped up a gear and for the first time in the match set up an attacking line-out five metres from the Irish try-line.
However, Biarritz lock Santiago Dellape was caught throwing a punch on the floor as Italy's discipline began to slip and was shown a yellow card for his actions.
But far from buckling in the face of Dellape's absence, the Azzurri continued to attack and even produced a penalty through David Bortolussi on the stroke of half-time which left Ireland in front with a 10-3 lead.
The second-half saw Ireland start on the front foot but they ruined several promising positions with simple errors. Veteran prop John Hayes hardly looking like an 80-cap international as he spilled the ball from a simple pass.
Matters got worse when in the 48th minute flanker Simon Easterby was yellow-carded by referee Jonathan Kaplan giving the Italians renewed hope.
Easterby was not to return as the highly regarded Israeli-born number eight Jamie Heaslip replaced him.
Bortolussi, whose late penalty miss against Scotland in the World Cup cost his side a place in the last eight, failed to make the Irish pay for another infringement when he sent his penalty wide from the halfway line with just under half an hour to go.
However, the Irish seemed to be sparked by this and produced some of their better rugby with O'Gara's chip over the defence being collected brilliantly by O'Driscoll.
After Reddan's pass had been deliberately knocked forward by an Italian defender O'Gara added a penalty to make it 13-3.
The Italians, though, were not cowed and with an hour to go pulled to within five points as Sergio Parisse was credited with a try after much deliberation, the Italian scrum having forced their way over the line.
Bortolussi failed to convert and the difference between the two kickers was illustrated as O'Gara gave the hosts some breathing space with a penalty to make it 16-8 with 15 minutes remaining.
The lead was reduced to five points with 10 minutes left as Bortolussi converted an easy penalty.
A first and surprising missed kick from O'Gara failed to calm the nerves of home fans but Ireland did enough to stop an Italian resurgence and now travel to France under more pressure than before.
Man of the match: Italy pack can hold their heads high after a solid display in the line-out caused all sorts of trouble for their hosts. Mauro Bergamasco and captain Sergio Parisse were also tremendous in the loose and put in the majority of Italy's tackles. For Ireland, Ronan O'Gara -- a different player to the unsettled one at the World Cup -- deserves a pat on the back for his tactical kicking that always kept the opposition backline guessing. But it doesn't take a rocket scientist to single out the genius display at scrum-half by the young and talented Eoin Reddan. His first start in a Six Nations match and certainly not his last. Full of running, full of ideas and Eddie O'Sullivan full of you-know-what for replacing the star of the match with ten minutes of the game remaining.
Moment of the match: In a match where far too many scoring chances were left begging like a dog outside a butcher's shop, it comes as no surprise then that the highlight of the match come from one of the only two tries scored. O'Gara's clever chip over the Italian defence for Girvan Dempsey's try takes the cake. It brought back happy memories of what the men in green used to bring to the game and gave their fans a glimmer of hope of Ireland's much talked about redemption -- sadly this wasn't to be.
Villain of the match: Two players from opposing sides -- one more deserving of his time-out than the other. Slap on the wrist for Simon Easterby for his professional foul in the second half that was perhaps a little harsh on the flank. And a slap in the face for Santiago Dellapé, whose punching extravaganza after his team finally made it within touching distance of Ireland's try-line in the first 40 minutes of the match.
The scorers:
For Ireland:
Try: Dempsey
Con: O'Gara
Pens: O'Gara 3
For Italy:
Try: Parisse
Pens: Bortolussi 2
Yellow card(s): Dellapé (Italy) -- punching, 29; Easterby (Ireland) -- playing the ball on the deck, 49
Ireland: 15 Girvan Dempsey, 14 Andrew Trimble, Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Geordan Murphy, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace, 6 Simon Easterby, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Rory Best, 1 Marcus HoranReplacements: 16 Bernard Jackman, 17 Tony Buckley, 18 Mick O'Driscoll, 19 Jamie Heaslip, 20 Peter Stringer, 21 Paddy Wallace, 22 Rob Kearney
Italy: 15 David Bortolussi, 14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Pablo Canavosio, 10 Andrea Masi, 9 Pietro Travagli, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Josh Sole, 5 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 4 Santiago Dellapé, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero
Replacements: 16 Carlo Festuccia, 17 Salvatore Perugini, 18 Carlos Nieto, 19 Tommaso Reato, 20 Alessandro Zanni, 21 Andrea Marcato, 22 Ezio Galon
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Touch judges: Wayne Barnes (England), David Changleng (Scotland)
Television match official: Tim Hayes (Wales)
Assessor: Tappe Henning (South Africa)
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