Emmet Byrne was focusing on the television monitor, when he heard someone say, "John Hayes is down." He jumped up, divested himself of his tracksuit and ignoring the protocol for replacements, immediately ran onto the pitch where the Ireland and Italian teams awaited the decision of the video referee on Italy's second try. He spoke briefly to Keith Wood and Peter Clohessy.
"It was either a try or a five metre scrum. I said to the boys that we were going to go for a big scrum. All of a sudden there was a huge roar, the Italians had been awarded the try and John (Hayes), who had gone down with a bang on the ear, was fine and I was running back to the bench. My first thought was that, even though I had come on, I hadn't won a cap."
Byrne would have to wait until midway through the second half before he made his debut for Ireland, the St Mary's College prop finally replacing Hayes in the 65th minute. "When I knew that I was finally going on, I couldn't wait to get on the pitch. I'd say the adrenaline rush was enough to kill a horse.
"I decided that in the first scrum I was going to throw the kitchen sink at their tighthead; let him worry about me. After that I just remember feeling no pain, physically, in contact. I was pleased enough with my contribution." Byrne doesn't recall Ireland's seven-man scrum, following Peter Clohessy's sin binning; it was the only time in the match that the Italian scrum was forced backwards.
Leaning against a wall at the after-match reception, Byrne tried to articulate his feelings. "I remember being nervous in the morning but that was nothing strange because I always feel like that before a game. But when we got to the stadium and I saw the reception we received from the supporters and then walking onto the pitch, the nerves disappeared.
"I suddenly found myself smiling, something which I never do. It was a tremendous feeling. I felt indestructible." Byrne will always treasure the memory of his first cap but for the Irish management team of Warren Gatland and Eddie O'Sullivan, the victory rather than the performance, will have provided more satisfaction.
Gatland articulated the relief in the Ireland camp at negotiating a potential banana skin. "We came to get a result and we've done that. I am very happy to be coming away from Rome with a victory." He conceded that the first 40 minutes had been something of a trial and that Ireland were fortunate that the Italians spurned several opportunities with the placed ball.
"You're always concerned when the match is that tight. When we got eight points in front towards the end of the first half things were better but unfortunately we let them in for a try. Eddie said to me after the match, `it was shades of Argentina in the first half.' At half-time we spoke about the fact that we were making too many 5050 passes out of the tackle.
"We needed to be more clinical. I thought that we came out on top in the second half and our performance was fairly convincing." Gatland confirmed that the team had done no scrumagging at all in the build-up to the match - it was an area that the Italians dominated - and that the lineout, traditionally one of the stronger facets of the Irish game, lacked the control normally produced.
Gatland paid tribute to the performance of man of the match and three-try hero Rob Henderson - "I think the three tries answer the question about how well he performed" - and David Wallace, the latter making his Six Nations debut. "I think that with the ball in hand, he (Wallace) is as good a loose forward that there is anywhere in the world."
