Ireland booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup and eliminated Italy with a somewhat unconvincing 16-9 victory at London's Olympic Stadium.
Having been beaten by France - whose place in the last eight is also assured - earlier in the tournament, Italy knew only a win would sustain their slim hopes of qualifying from Pool D.
Jacques Brunel's men stayed in touch with the Six Nations champions throughout a largely forgettable contest, but a below-par Ireland did just enough to maintain their 100 per cent record.
Ireland will therefore face France in Cardiff next Sunday with top spot - and the potentially crucial avoidance of a quarter-final meeting with favourites New Zealand - up for grabs, while Italy's meeting with Romania now represents a dead rubber.
The only try of the match came from Keith Earls, who crossed in the first half to become his country's outright record try-scorer at World Cups.
Ireland's remaining points came from the boot of Jonathan Sexton, while Tommaso Allan landed three kicks for an Italy side forced into an early change as inside centre Gonzalo Garcia limped off to be replaced by Tommaso Benvenuti.
Sexton and Allan exchanged penalties prior to Earls' landmark score in the 19th minute.
After his team-mates had turned the ball over at a line-out, Earls collected a short pass from fit-again centre partner Robbie Henshaw and touched down for his eighth World Cup try to surpass Ireland legend Brian O'Driscoll's tally.
A second Allan three-pointer reduced Italy's arrears and Sexton could only hit the left-hand post when presented with an opportunity to reply following a tip tackle on Dave Kearney.
Having withstood a spell of pressure before the break, the underdogs almost claimed the lead early in the second half as Joshua Furno found space on the left wing, only to be denied by a superb, try-saving tackle by Peter O'Mahony.
Italy nevertheless closed to within a point through Allan, but that prompted a response from Ireland, who stepped up the pace to earn two more penalties and saw Sexton split the posts on each occasion.
The late sin binning of O'Mahony for a shoulder charge gave Italy - for whom skipper Sergio Parisse lasted just over an hour on his return from injury - fresh hope.
Ireland held on with a degree of comfort, despite a late penalty miss from Sexton, but head coach Joe Schmidt will be aware improvement is required if his side are to mount a serious challenge for the Webb Ellis Cup.