Ireland v Italy - teams and prediction
Today at 05:27 AM
ROUND FIVE PREVIEW: Ireland have a glimmer of hope that they can retain their Six Nations crown on Saturday when they take on Italy in Rome, looking to bounce back from a painful defeat to title favourites France.
Simon Easterby's team have to beat Italy and hope results go their way to win an unprecedented third straight title, as they sit third in the table and two points behind leaders France ahead of the fifth and final round of matches.
Regardless of how they do against the Italians, a win for France against Scotland in Paris - or failing that, a bonus-point success for England in Cardiff - would be enough to stop Ireland's recent dominance of the tournament.
Ireland were undone on their patch last weekend by classic flair from Les Bleus, which had some serious fire added to it after talisman Antoine Dupont tore his cruciate ligaments in a challenge which left the French seething and desperate to make a point.
But Ireland, who will have Jack Crowley at flyhalf for the first time in this year's tournament, will still be firm favourites to beat an Italy side who suffered hefty defeats at the hands of both England and France in their last two matches.
"We weren't good enough in lots of areas last week and I think the squad have a real internal motivation to perform and to play at their best when they play in an Irish jersey," Easterby told reporters.
"We can't change what went on last Saturday, but we can certainly have an impact on the performance and the right result this weekend.
"And then who knows? There's a chance and we just need to make sure we've prepared in the right way this week against a really good Italian team.
"It's an intriguing match-up. We know what we need to do to get the best out of ourselves and we need to make sure we've a full focus on that."
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No Healy farewell
The thousands of Ireland fans set to flock to Rome will, however, not have a chance to say goodbye to prop Cian Healy, whose record number of caps for his country will stay at 137 after the 37-year-old didn't even make the matchday squad.
"It is tough but we have very limited time to get players these types of experiences... We don't have many opportunities at international level for meaningful games to get game experiences, get guys game time, so that was the conversation I had with Cian," said Easterby.
"He was disappointed but he understood the rationale behind it and he has been brilliant in the week."
Italy coach Gonzalo Quesada has again made a raft of changes after conceding 73 and 47 points against the French and English in their two most recent matches.
Skipper and flanker Michele Lamaro has been dropped to the bench with centre Juan Ignacio Brex taking the captain's armband.
The Azzurri are just one point above bottom-team Wales and have a worse points difference due to those heavy defeats.
Italy were hit hard by their hammering at the hands of the French after encouraging displays against Scotland and Wales and Quesada is trying to end the lapses in attention and individual errors which so often cost his team.
"We looked deeply at what's causing these blackouts, why they come, how to deal with them and we think we've worked out where it is we lose our way," said Quesada.
"We've found what we think might be the solution... That's the biggest challenge on Saturday because there are going to be a lot of tough moments when we will be under pressure.
"I'm sure that we'll play better than we did against England and France... If we can keep up our energy levels, then I'm sure that we can play much better and leave a truer impression of who we are."
Players to watch
For Italy: Gonzalo Quesada made seven changes to his Italy team, headlined by Tommaso Allan's return at fullback - after being dropped last week. Martin Page-Relo starts at scrumhalf in place of Stephen Varney, while centre Juan Ignacio Brex takes the captain's armband for the first time in the Six Nations with usual skipper Michele Lamaro on the bench.
For Ireland: Ireland flyhalf Jack Crowley will make his first start of this Six Nations, after ousting Sam Prendergast from the No.10 shirt. The 25-year-old Munster flyhalf played every minute of Ireland's title-winning campaign in 2024 but Leinster flyhalf Prendergast, 22, has started the past six Test matches. Fit again wings James Lowe and Mack Hansen return to the team, while Garry Ringrose, back from suspension, is preferred to Bundee Aki in midfield. Up front, James Ryan comes in for Joe McCarthy at lock and Jack Conan takes Peter O'Mahony's place at blindside flank. Tighthead prop Tadhg Furlong is poised for his first Test action since last year's tour of South Africa after being named among the replacements following hamstring and calf problems. O'Mahony and fellow retiring Ireland cap centurion Conor Murray could feature in a Test for the final time after they too were included on the bench. But prop Cian Healy - Ireland's most-capped player with 137 appearances - looks to have already played his last international after being left out of the matchday 23, with Jack Boyle providing loosehead cover for Andrew Porter.
Prediction
@rugby365com:Ireland by 18 points
Teams
Italy: 15 Tommaso Allan, 14 Ange Capuozzo, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex (captain), 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Martin Page-Relo, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Dino Lamb, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 1 Danilo Fischetti.
Replacements: 16 Giacomo Nicotera, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Giosue Zilocchi, 19 Niccolo Cannone, 20 Michele Lamaro, 21 Ross Vintcent, 22 Stephen Varney, 23 Leonardo Marin.
Ireland: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (captain), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Jack Conan, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 James Ryan, 4 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1. Andrew Porter.
Replacements: 16 Gus McCarthy, 17 Jack Boyle, 18 Tadgh Furlong, 19 Joe McCarthy, 20 Peter O'Mahony, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Sam Prendergast, 23 Bundee Aki.
Date: Saturday, March 15
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Kick-off: 15.15 (14.15 UK time; 14.15 GMT)
Expected weather: Yellow warning for rain and wind. High of 18°C and low of 12°C
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant referees: Angus Gardner (Australia), Morné Ferreira (South Africa)
TMO: Andrew Jackson (France)
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