Brian O'Driscoll described Ireland's display as "mediocre" after the Grand Slam holders laboured to beat Italy 29-11 in Saturday's Six Nations opener.

"We had a reasonable first half but never really got out of the blocks in the second half," said O'Driscoll.

"They put up more of a fight and made life difficult but we didn't really string things together.

"We didn't get any fluidity into our game. We were glad to hear the final whistle. It got a bit frustrating."

O'Driscoll agreed that Ireland had produced little of the fire that they exhibited against Australia and South Africa in November.

"It's very difficult to pick up from where you left off having played the three games in November," he said.

"We've only had a fortnight together. We'll get better as the competition goes on but there's plenty to improve on."

The Italians put us under a lot of pressure and we didn't get our game going Ireland coach Declan Kidney

O'Driscoll agreed that a major improvement would be needed in the game against France in Paris next weekend.

"Our ability to create fast ruck ball is the winning and losing of games against sides like France. We need to work on that."

Ireland coach Declan Kidney said that he viewed the glass as "half-full" despite his team's struggles in Saturday's game.

"The Italians put us under a lot of pressure and we didn't get our game going as we would have liked but a lot of that was down to them," said Kidney.

However, the Ireland coach added that his side would have to improve in "every area of the pitch" against France.

Meanwhile, man-of-the-match David Wallace refused to be downbeat after the game.

The flanker admitted Ireland would have liked a more comprehensive win but said he was content with the result.

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"We had a job to do and we went out and did it," said Wallace. "It was a very physical game. It's good to get a win under our belts.

"In fairness to Italy, they never gave up. Of course you want to score more tries but that would be a disservice to Italy."

Jamie Heaslip and Tomas O'Leary scored first-half tries for Ireland as they established a 23-3 lead.

Fly-half Ronan O'Gara finished the game with 16 points on his return to the side while Italy's only try came just before the break through Kaine Robertson.

O'Gara took a bang on the knee in Saturday's game but Kidney expects the fly-half to be available for the game in Paris.

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