Ireland overcame Italy by a scrappy 22-17 at the Stadio Olimpico and finished the last day of the Six Nations where they started, in third place.

Ireland had slim hopes of an historic third consecutive title, and the unconvincing bonus-point win in Rome was overtaken as expected within hours by England, who finished second, and France, the new champion.

A week after Ireland were hammered by France in Dublin and lost control of their destiny, they briefly regained the tournament lead with a fourth win in five matches.

But the Triple Crown holders suffered a French hangover trying to force too much against an Italy determined to show their best side after conceding 18 tries to France and England.

"There's a little bit of disappointment that we didn't play at our best," Ireland interim coach Simon Easterby said.

"Credit to Italy, they had a part to play in that. We coughed up too much possession and didn't make the most of some opportunities."

The Irish scored four tries to two and enjoyed 30-plus minutes with a man advantage, but a clunky, deflated performance gave Italy hope of an upset.

Italy frequently found holes in the Irish defence but three yellow cards - one of them turning into a 20-minute red - undid all of their impressive work.

The highlight of Ireland's display was hooker Dan Sheehan's first Test hat-trick of tries, extending his men's Six Nations record for a forward to 13.

Sheehan scored his third try when he collected Australian Mack Hansen's tap-back from a Jamison Gibson-Park kick to complete his hat-trick.

Fullback Hugo Keenan could have had a hat-trick, too, but one was ruled out and another wasn't given.

Italy played for half an hour with 14 players after yellow cards for Michele Lamaro and Giacomo Nicotera, and a 20-minute red for Ross Vintcent, but managed tries through Australian winger Monty Ioane and scrum-half Stephen Varney in a spirited end to their campaign.

"Relief is the overriding feeling," Ireland captain Caelan Doris admitted afterwards.

"It was a proper battle that went down to the wire.''