Hooker Dan Sheehan scored a hat-trick to take his Six Nations tally to 13
Men's Six Nations
Italy (10) 17
Tries: Ioane, Varney Cons: Allan 2 Pen: Allan
Ireland (12) 22
Tries: Keenan, Sheehan 3 Con: Crowley
Ireland held off a spirited Italy to secure a bonus-point win in Rome and keep alive their faint hopes of winning a third consecutive Six Nations.
Hugo Keenan's first-half score and Dan Sheehan's hat-trick ensured a win that took Ireland to 19 points in the table, three clear of France and four ahead of England.
Italy scored tries through Monty Ioane and Stephen Varney, but paid the price for ill discipline, with Michele Lamaro sin-binned just before the break and Ross Vintcent shown red in the second half for a high hit on Keenan.
After Sheehan's hat-trick score put the visitors 22-10 up, Stephen Varney's try raised Italy hopes of a rare win over Ireland, but the home side's late pressure failed to yield a winning moment.
Wales face England in Cardiff at 16:45 GMT before leaders France welcome Scotland to Paris at 20:00.
An England win would take them top of the table as they have a superior points difference over Ireland.
But victory for France would almost certainly secure them the title given their vastly superior points difference over England.
Six Nations: Follow live as Wales face England – TV, radio & text
Six Nations title permutations – who needs what?
With their title hopes hanging by a thread and arriving in Rome on the back of a humbling defeat by France, captain Caelan Doris said Ireland needed to finish the campaign with their "best performance".
But this did not come close. Against France, Ireland dominated the opening 20 minutes without scoring a point. Here, they started ponderously and Italy took advantage, constructing a beautiful opening try after 12 minutes.
In-form centre Tommaso Menoncello broke through a couple of tackles and offloaded to Paolo Garbisi, whose perfectly weighted grubber kick was dotted down by Ioane.
Italy could have scored a second try a few minutes later had it not been for a knock-on following another impressive Menoncello surged through the Ireland midfield.
After that let-off, Ireland got their act together somewhat, and after the TMO ruled out a Finlay Bealham try for the prop's double movement, Jack Crowley sent Keenan through for the Ireland opener.
It did not quite open the floodgates. Instead, Garry Ringrose – back from suspension – was caught offside and Tommaso Allan nailed a long-range penalty to put Italy 10-7 ahead.
But Italy lost forwards Dino Lamb, Sebastian Negri and Lorenzo Cannone to injury in the first half and their cause was not helped when squad captain Michele Lamaro, who had been dropped to the bench, was sin-binned for deliberately knocking the ball out of Jamison Gibson-Park's hands at the back of a ruck.
Lamaro was furious with himself and Italy's woes only deepened when Ireland immediately pounced through Sheehan to lead 12-10 at the break.
Ireland stretched the lead to seven when Sheehan scored a near-identical second try off the back of a maul before Vintcent received a yellow card – later upgraded to a 20-minute red – for a dangerous tackle on Keenan.
The third Ireland try was the pick of the bunch. Gibson-Park launched a pinpoint kick to the wing, where Mack Hansen tapped the ball back for Sheehan to complete his treble.
That bonus-point score should have settled Irish nerves, but after fly-half Crowley – making his first start of the tournament – missed his third conversion attempt, Italy rallied.
After a superb break from Ange Capuozzo, replacement scrum-half Varney touched down as Hansen misjudged the bounce of the ball inside Ireland's in-goal area.
Allan's conversion brought Italy to within five points but, despite applying intense pressure in the closing stages, Ireland held on to clinch a narrow win and begin the waiting game.
Ireland also bid farewell to veterans Peter O'Mahony and Conor Murray, both of whom received rapturous ovations when introduced from the bench.
Cian Healy, who played his last Test last week against France, joined his team-mates on the pitch at the end to wave goodbye to the Ireland fans.
Despite a hard-fought win, though, the odds remain stacked against the trio retiring with another title.
Conor Murray and Peter O'Mahony came off the bench for their farewell Ireland appearances
Italy: Allan; Capuozzo, Brex (capt), Menoncello, Ioane; Garbisi, Page-Relo; Fischetti, Lucchesi, Ferrari; Lamb, Ruzza; Negri, Zuliani, L Cannone.
Replacements: Nicotera, Spagnolo, Zilocchi, N Cannone, Lamaro, Vintcent, Varney, Marin.
Sin-bin: Lamaro (40), Nicotera (80)
Red card: Vintcent (56)
Ireland: Keenan; Hansen, Ringrose, Henshaw, Lowe; Crowley, Gibson-Park; Porter, Sheehan, Bealham; Ryan, Beirne; Conan, Van der Flier, Doris (capt).
Replacements: G McCarthy, Boyle, Furlong, J McCarthy, O'Mahony, Murray, Prendergast, Aki.
Referee: Luke Pearce (Eng)
Comments can not be loaded
To load Comments you need to enable JavaScript in your browser
Premier League: Bournemouth host Brentford after wins for Forest & Wolves
Six Nations: Winless Wales face title-chasing England – live text
La Liga: Villarreal host title-chasing Real Madrid
Why do humans dance?
Preview an upcoming epic crime saga starring Sean Bean
Uncovering the dark side of football hooliganism
The 2002 heist that shook China’s airwaves
The 'rugby student' stepping up to lead Ireland
Pre-contract agreements – why are they different in NI?
Record-breaker Dunlop 'breaks mould' of modern sporting heroes
Meet Jude McAtamney – the New York Giants kicker from Derry
Can Scotland's 'France-lite' thwart Les Bleus and hand England title?
'No Hamilton fairytale as Norris and McLaren deliver on potential'
Six Nations title permutations – who needs what?
Has Tuchel's first squad revealed England's short-term strategy?
'A ridiculously long wait – but trophy win would change everything'
F1: Chequered Flag. Audio
Sutton's predictions v Divorce singer Felix
How do athletes manage sleep, and how can you improve yours?
New teams, new rules, more money – Netball Super League's big relaunch
Hampson on paralysing injury, helping others and England pride, 20 years on
Gavin Henson: The kick that changed everything
Will English teams win all three European competitions?
The double-kick penalty that cost Atletico Madrid in shootout
To Free Hit or not in gameweek 29? FPL tips & team of week
Hamilton does not feel pressure to 'prove anything'
How much do you remember about Super Saturdays?
Will PSG tie provide Champions League redemption for Emery?
'I've still got big part to play' – historic night for Sterling
Who plays who in Champions League quarter-finals?
'Ugo said he'd shave his chest if England lose to Wales!' Video
Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.
