They have conceded a half-century of points in their last four visits to the Aviva Stadium, shipping 46 and 42 in the two before to make it an average of 51 in six encounters. Small wonder Italy’s head coach Gonzalo Quesada has said it is crucial his players stay lucid during the match.
Ireland have made six changes from the side that overwhelmed France in Marseille on the opening night of the tournament. Centre Stuart McCloskey and scrum-half Craig Casey are the two new faces behind while the inclusion of Finlay Bealham, James Ryan, Ryan Baird and Jack Conan means every area of the pack will have a new look.
Caelan Doris will captain the team from openside with Conan No.8. Josh van der Flier is on the bench along with Jamison Gibson-Park and Jordan Larmour, who has been plucked from the international wilderness nearly three years after winning the last of his 30 caps.
The Opta supercomputer has given Italy, who were whitewashed last season, a five per cent chance of defeating the Grand Slam champions. Their only victory over Ireland in the Six Nations came in Rome in 2013 when Iain Henderson, as he is today, was on the bench for the men in green, and their one success in Dublin came in 1997 when they were lobbying to make the Five Nations six.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der February 11, 2024-Ausgabe von The Rugby Paper.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der February 11, 2024-Ausgabe von The Rugby Paper.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
England can find a little bit of cheer
SO HERE we are on the final day of England’s autumn international series with all of us hoping and expecting Steve Borthwick’s team to win today after three weeks of bitter disappointment.
Stop messing with Marcus - Campese
DAVID Campese believes England are going backwards under Steve Borthwick, who is ‘messing around’ with talisman Marcus Smith.
Being a Lion was the highlight of my career
I PLAYED 19 games and scored 219 points for the Lions, on the tours to South Africa in 1968 and New Zealand in 1971, but I never played in a Test and that was fair enough.
Cook's crew not fazed as they eye tilt at top half
THERE appear to be few signs of second season syndrome at Westcombe Park as captain Nick Cook reveals the group aren’t even contemplating the threat of relegation and are instead targeting a top-half finish.
Forwards pack a punch for the Reds
OLD Redcliffians produced a proud defensive effort to take a bonus-point win.
Tom 'Ailes' the achievements of inspirational skipper Riley
SEDGLEY Park No. 8 Tom Ailes says his team relish the competitive nature of National One and is confident the Tigers can rectify their rocky start to the season in weeks to come.
Strachan confident Ampthill will be firing again soon
FRASER Strachan is determined to put Ampthill’s leaky defensive showings behind them and gain some much needed confidence in the run up to Christmas.
It's a whole new ball game for Rigg
WILL Rigg’s ambition was to become a professional cricketer but it is the oval ball rather than The Oval that is his driver now.
Scarratt leads the way for Lightning
LOUGHBOROUGH won a wet and windy East Midlands Derby after having the bonus point in the bag by half-time.
Becconsall: We need to release pressure
WILL Becconsall says Exeter are not spooked by the threat of relegation as they look to turn around their Premiership campaign after starting with six straight defeats.
