Ireland waltzed to a one-sided 50-6 win over Italy on Sunday after an unfortunate early sequence of events left the Six Nations ' Wooden Spoon favourites playing an hour of the match with only 13 men.
Azzurri hooker Gianmarco Lucchesi was sidelined in the opening exchanges due to injury, only for tragedy to strike when replacement Hame Faiva was sent off on 18 minutes for a dangerous tackle on Dan Sheehan.
Referee Nika Amashukeli—the first Georgian to officiate a Six Nations fixture—informed Italy they would need to sacrifice another player in order to bring on a specialist front-rower.
Ireland surged into that extra space in the back-field and sealed a try bonus point in the first period after crossing over through Joey Carbery, Jamison Gibson-Park, debutant Michael Lowry and Peter O'Mahony.
James Lowe (two) Ryan Baird and Kieran Treadwell made the most of their advantage and completed a second-half salvo of tries, helping Ireland amass their second-biggest winning margin in 34 meetings with Italy.
It is Ireland's biggest win over the Azzurri in the Six Nations, however, with the record 61-6 victory in 2003 having been a World Cup warm-up.
As much as Italy's red card debacle certainly contributed to their collapse, the writing was on the wall when Carbery cruised in for their opening score after three minutes, while both teams still had 15 men.
Caelan Doris made the initial break to put hooker Sheehan into space, and Carbery slid in for his second Test try, with his first having also come against the Italians back in August 2019.
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Ireland had appeared to have done their homework in exposing the left side of the field as a weakness for Italy, just as England had a fortnight ago en route to their own 33-0 win.
Pierre Bruno's withdrawal to balance out the packs definitely didn't help protect that wing, either, as Gibson-Park, Lowry and O'Mahony each darted down that flank to score before the break.
Leinster's Lowe marked his return to the Ireland XV with a simple dot down in the 51st minute, having missed the first two rounds of the championship due to injury.
Hugo Keenan's place at full-back may not be under genuine threat just yet, but Ulster flyer Lowry also kept up the pressure for places after whizzing over for his second of the day minutes later.
Not to let the backs have all the fun, Leinster lock Baird put his height to fine use and blocked a clearance to run in from the edge of Italy's 22' and score his maiden Ireland try on 67 minutes.
Against the odds, Italy's day got even worse when flanker Braam Steyn was sin-binned for intentionally patting the ball into touch, leaving Lowe to fly over for his second while Italy saw out the game with 12 players.
Substitute Kieran Treadwell joined in on the action with a first Ireland try of his own in the game's final play, the Ulster man rewarding Farrell for his faith in promoting him to the squad.
Lowry, 23, called it a "special feeling" to score two tries on his senior Ireland debut at the Aviva Stadium, albeit in a match marred by Faiva's early dismissal.
"I've worked hard for this," the Ulster man replied when asked what his debut signified to him.
"Hopefully I'll step on from this now and get a few more caps."
The title chase isn't over for Ireland just yet despite defeat to leaders France, though they need Les Bleus to drop points in the coming weeks if they're to have any chance of leap-frogging them into first.
For Italy, meanwhile, the hunt for a first Six Nations since 2015 lingers on, having now suffered 12 consecutive defeats in their encounters with Ireland.
The Azzurri will have a week off from Six Nations duty before the competition resumes in a fortnight at home to Scotland, a potential shoot-out to avoid the Wooden Spoon.
Farrell's side are next due to face England at Twickenham on March 12, meanwhile, when they'll seek a first win over the old enemy on their own soil since 2018.
IRELAND - Try: Carbery, Gibson-Park, Lowry 2, O'Mahony, Lowe 2, Baird, Treadwell. Cons: Carbery 2, Sexton 4.
ITALY - Pens: Padovani, Garbisi.
