Some rugby fans may not have gone to bed at all given the fact New Zealand, Wales and Argentina have already played today and advanced to the last eight but there's only one team we're interested in... IRELAND!!!
It's all over in Dunedin.... Ireland can look forward with real expectation to next weekend - Saturday to be precise, windy Wellington is the venue! Kidney's men top Pool C and will now face Wales in the quarter-final... Can you wait? I can't!
F/T: Ireland 36-6 Italy
80' TRY!!! Ireland are not to be denied their grandstand finish as Earls goes over for his second try of the night - two tries for the birthday boy!!! Substitute Trimble made the try with the pass... Sexton, from a difficult angle, pushes Ireland further ahead!
Kidney decides to empty the bench... Eoin Reddan, Tom Court and Denis Leamy are all on for last six minutes - preventing an Italy try will be the order of the day surely?!
Ireland 29-6 Italy
70' Sexton finds his feet early on, another three points for Ireland...
67' Jonathan Sexton is in for O'Gara, another fine display by the Munster legend... It's probably a bit late to stake a claim for Wales?!?
Italy have offered little in the second-half despite it being coach Nick Mallett's last game in charge...
Ireland 26-6 Italy
52' TRY!!! Devastating play from Ireland, from one side to the other, is finished off by Munster wing Earls, his ninth try for his country, following superb play with ball in hand by D'Arcy and Ferris. Tougher kick for O'Gara from the near touchline but he slots it - flawless goal-kicking!
Ireland 19-6 Italy
47' TRY!!! O'Driscoll plays the captain's role and scores his 45th try in the green of Ireland!!! Great break by Bowe and the Leinster centre did the rest... O'Gara makes no mistake with the extras! Ireland should be able to push on from here...
Ireland 12-6 Italy
First time in the game the margin has been pushed out to more than three points!!!
44' Another good strike from O'Gara - bright beginning to the second-half by Ireland.
Here we go again...
Ireland in the ascendancy but only just... Could that decision to reverse the penalty prove crucial in a game that looks like it's going to go down to the wire?!?
H/T: Ireland 9-6 Italy
Some excellent maul play by the Azzurri leads to another penalty but its been turned around following consultation with the touch judge...
Ireland 9-6 Italy
Italy, through Bergamasco, are unable to level it up - the attempt hits the post, much like O'Gara's did earlier on in the half. It's coming down to kicks as we thought it might.
Ireland 9-6 Italy
35' Three more points by Ireland - a good, solid first-half showing!
Ireland are knocking on the door for the last few minutes and they get another penalty... O'Gara will surely slot this?
Tommy Bowe thought he had scored under the posts but referee Jonathan Kaplan's whistle had sounded... Pass adjudged to be marginally forward!
Conor Murray has warranted his place in the starting XV to date... looks lively with ball in hand!
A lot of tight calls out there, exactly the kind of game many would have expected...
Ireland 6-6 Italy
22' Birgamasco makes it two from two and Ireland are certainly in a game here just past the midway point of the first-half...
Italy are a metre short of the Ireland line - they can't go over but get a penalty following good work by the colossus that is Martin Castrogiovanni.
Ireland 6-3 Italy
18' No problem this time... two out of three!
Italy cough up another penalty - offside at the lineout. O'Gara has a chance to redeem his last kick.
The touchline comes before the try line for Keith Earls following a late off load by O'Driscoll... Great play by the Ireland forwards prior to that.
Off the upright this time... Chance missed!
O'Gara has a chance to put the men in green back in front!
Ireland 3-3 Ireland
11' Racing Metro's Mirco Bergamasco keeps his cool and levels things up with a sweet strike.
10' Italy get a penalty of their own following a handling error by Tullow's Sean O'Brien... Cian Healy was totally turned in the resulting scrum.
Ireland 3-0 Italy
8' First shot at goal by the Munster stalwart is superb - splits the posts!!!
6' Ireland get a penalty for a dust-up out on the far touchline between Gordon D'Arcy and Gonzalo Canale. Ronan O'Gara is going to go for the posts...
4' Nervy enough opening by both sides, hardly surprising... The Irish scrum has done well early doors.
We're up and running... Time for Ireland to get the job done and get on the bus!
Here are the teams for the clash at Otago Stadium in the seaside town of Dunedin in New Zealand's south island...
Ireland: R Kearney; T Bowe, B O'Driscoll, G D'Arcy, K Earls; R O'Gara, C Murray; C Healy, R Best, M Ross, D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell, S Ferris, S O'Brien, J Heaslip.
Replacements: S Cronin, T Court, D Ryan, D Leamy, E Reddan, J Sexton, A Trimble.
Italy: A Masi; T Benvenuti, G Canale, G Garcia, M Bergamasco; L Orquera, F Semenzato; S Perugini, L Giraldini, M Castrogiovanni, Q Geldenhuys, C van Zyl, A Zanni, M Bergamasco, S Parisse.
Replacements: F Ongaro, A lo Cicero, M Bortolami, P Derbyshire, E Gori, R Bocchino, L McLean.
So this is it... A win will see Ireland top the Pool and face fellow Six Nations outfit Wales in the quarter-final. Wales are far from unbeatable and a semi-final clash with familiar foes England or France is the prize! It's there for Ireland... Can they do it?
Having stumbled past the USA in their opening Pool C encounter, Declan Kidney's charges stunned Australia in their next match before recording a routine win against Russia.