With a view to having a few Australian visas stamped, a softish Italian A side were made to order for Irish fringe contenders for the summer tour. Plenty gorged themselves in what became a 10-try feast and a record Irish total at any level, eclipsing the 700 World Cup defeat of Georgia last November.
Hardly anyone showed up badly, and several showed up well. David Wallace probably caught the eye most. But others weren't far behind.
Jeremy Staunton produced enough of those trademark breaks and a physical presence in defence to impress the watching Warren Gatland.
The three Anti-podeans also caught the eye. Kiwi Mike Mullins was a strong physical presence at inside centre, and Aussie Matt Mostyn made the most of his opportunities to score two, smartly-taken tries.
The wings, Dennis Hickie and James Topping, also looked healthily on the mend when they were finally given ball and space. Hickie skipped in for a couple of tries himself.
Given the latest spate of changes - 46 players have been used in six A games - a structured start was called for and yielded an early dividend. Foley burrowed over for the first try on five minutes.
Ireland finally hit a groove on a break. Little had been seen of the 23-year-old Mostyn until this point, but he took Staunton's pass on the burst and straightened through the initial line of defence before stepping inside the full back to score under the posts.
Only in the final quarter did the Irish cut loose. Running from anywhere, usually off Italian turnovers, they ran in five tries, the first two from Staunton and Mostyn. The final three were all scored from the Irish 22. Mullins supported a Mason break for try number eight, Mason then collected a kick ahead for the ninth, and Hickie finished off a Topping break.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 5 mins: Foley try, Mason con 7-0; 10: Mason pen 10-0; 18: Mason pen 13-0; 21: Pavin try, Grangetto con 13-7; 30: Mason pen 16-7; 37: Grangetto pen 16-10; 38: Mostyn try, Mason con 23-10; 44: Galwey try, Mason con 30-10; 47: Grangetto try and con 3017; 50: McDonald try 35-17; 55: Hickie try, Mason con 42-17; 61: Staunton try, Mason con 49-17; 65: Mostyn try, Mason con 56-17; 67: Mullins try 61-17; 73: Mason try, 66-17; ? Hickie try, Mason con 73-17.
IRELAND A: S Mason; J Topping (both Ballymena), M Mostyn (Begles Bordeaux), M Mullins (West Hartlepool), D Hickie (St Mary's); J Staunton (Garryowen), B O'Meara (Cork Con); J Screene (Buccaneers), S McDonald (West Hartlepool), M Cahill (Buccaneers), M Galwey (Shannon, capt), G Fulcher (Lansdowne), A Quinlan,A Foley, E Halvey (all Shannon). Replacements: G Easterby (London Scottish) for O'Meara (65 mins), J Hayes (Shannon) for Cahill (68 mins), S McEntee (Lansdowne) for Quinlan (74 mins), G Longwell (Ballymena) for Fulcher (75 mins), F Sheahan (Cork Con) for McDonald (75 mins), M Murphy (Galwegians) for Mullins (79 mins), R O'Gara (Cork Con) for Staunton (79 mins).
ITALY A: P Dotto; P Scanziani, E Galon, L Pavin, C Gatti; F Grangetto, F Dalla Nora; A Lo Cicero, C Orlandi, F Pucciarello, A Gritti, A Barattin, D de Luca, M Birtig, R Piovan. Replacements: C Zaneletti for Pavin (68 mins), G Zorzi for de Luca (68 mins), M David for Zorzi (80 mins), S Kelemenic for Pucciarello (80 mins).
Referee: J Dickson (Sco).
