Keith Gleeson (left) scored two first half tries

By this stage, the game was being played totally in Romanian territory, although several home moves broke down because of misplaced passes.

However, Ireland did produced a slick passage of play in the 15th minute to grab their second try.

The impressive Kevin Maggs broke through the middle and fed Gleeson, who had the simple task of touching down under the posts.

O'Gara landed the conversion and hit another penalty three minutes later to add to Ireland's total.

The Irish outside-half then had to leave the field for a brief spell because of a blood injury.

His replacement David Humphreys was immediately into the action in a move which culminated in a penalty try after Girvan Dempsey had been high-tackled inches from the Romanian line.

Wonderful dummy

Humphreys' successful conversion left Ireland 25-0 ahead.

Romanian fly-half Ionut Tofan opened his team's account with a 28th minute penalty.

Brian O'Driscoll then took the opportunity to score his 14th international try by finishing off a move started by Maggs' break from midfield.

However, within five minutes O'Driscoll had to leave the field as a precaution after sustaining a knock. Fellow Lion Rob Henderson came on as the centre's replacement.

David Humphreys: First half blood substitution

Just as they had in the first half, Romania made a bold break in the opening seconds with Alexandru Manta looking certain to score a try only to be denied by a Peter Stringer tackle.

But two minutes later, centre Valentin Matei produced a wonderful dummy to outwit Denis Hickie and cross for a try.

The conversion wasn't difficult but Tofan missed the target.

The Romanian revival continued for the next 10 minutes but their progress was halted by Rob Henderson, who gathered a delightful kick into space by O'Gara before touching down.

But Romania continued to have the better of the second half exchanges and some desperate Irish defence saw prop Reggie Corrigan yellow carded for handling on the wrong side.

A clash of heads then saw Simon Easterby forced to leave the field, which enabled Victor Costello to come on to earn his 23rd cap.

The remainder of the match was forgettable to say the least.

Ireland: G Dempsey; J Kelly, K Maggs, B O'Driscoll, D Hickie; R O'Gara, P Stringer; R Corrigan, S Byrne, J Hayes, G Longwell, M O'Kelly, S Easterby, K Gleeson, A Foley, capt. Replacements: P Shields, P Wallace, L Cullen, V Costello, G Easterby, D Humphreys, R Henderson.

Romania: G Berzoianu, C Sauan, A Aftea, R Gontineac, M Vioreanu, I Tofan, L Sirbu, M Dumitru, R Mavrodin, M Tincu, M Dragomir, C Petre, G Chiriac, A Petrache, A Manta. Replacements: P Toderasc, D Tudosa, A Petrichei, C Podea, R Vusec, M Picolu.

Referee: Giulio De Santis (Italy).