Ireland will be looking to march on towards a possible Grand Slam title when the Six Nations returns in Rome on Saturday.
Andy Farrell's side conquered France in a potential title decider before the fallow week, whereas hosts Italy suffered a second straight defeat at the hands of England.
Match preview
© Reuters
Having threatened to pull off one of the all-time great Six Nations upsets on gameweek one against France on home turf, Italy must now look to do the same against the tournament favourites and front-runners back at the Stadio Olimpico.
The odds are stacked against the home side, yet they will have taken encouraging signs from both of their defeats so far.
The aforementioned loss to France saw them in the lead heading into the final 20 minutes, and then squander late penalties which could have nudged them back in front of the defending champions for what would have been a famous victory.
A trip to Twickenham one week later was not quite as closely-fought as England avoided a banana skin thanks largely to their 19 unanswered points in the first half.
Nonetheless, the Azzurri once again looked dangerous at times and, on another day, may have had more than the two tries they managed, having beaten 41 defenders over the course of the 80 minutes - by far their highest figure in any Six Nations match.
Indeed, the 28 defenders beaten in the second half alone was just one short of the previous full-match record set against Scotland last year, so there is a very real threat from Italy when they have the ball in hand.
Such encouragement from losing efforts will only last so long if they keep on losing, though, and while few will be expecting them to pick up their first victory against the world's top-ranked side on Saturday, next month's home meeting with Wales - whom they memorably beat last year - looks increasingly like a Wooden Spoon decider.
© Reuters
For Ireland, the task is to avoid any danger of a monumental shock and tick off another box in their quest for a first Grand Slam since 2018, and only a third in the Six Nations era.
From statistically the toughest test of this year's tournament to the easiest, Andy Farrell will nonetheless demand the same level of performance from his side as that which they produced against France in their last outing.
Appropriately billed as a probable title decider, with the favourites and world number one side taking on the defending Grand Slam champions and world number two, Ireland stepped up to the plate with a thrilling 32-19 victory in Dublin earlier this month.
The result was Ireland's biggest win over France in the Five or Six Nations since 1975, only the third time that they had run in four tries against Les Bleus for a bonus point in the Six Nations era, and their 13th successive home win, ending France's record 14-match winning run in the process.
That said, Garry Ringrose's try in the 71st minute gave the final score a slightly more one-sided look than the reality of the game, with both sides producing a Six Nations classic that hung in the balance for the vast majority of the 80.
Indeed, only one game in Six Nations history has seen more metres gained in total than the 1,334 that the world's top two sides managed in Dublin, with France's showdown with England in 2015 just about retaining its crown.
It is the French Six Nations crown which Farrell and his players have their eyes on now, though, and it would be an enormous shock if they did not continue their march towards it this weekend.
Italy Six Nations form:
- L
- L
Ireland Six Nations form:
- W
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Ireland will be without their talismanic captain Johnny Sexton as he continues to recover from the groin injury he sustained against France last time out.
James Ryan will captain his country in the absence of Sexton, who still needs only eight points to surpass his predecessor Ronan O'Gara as the leading points scorer in Six Nations history, while Ross Byrne comes in at 10.
That is one of six changes made by Farrell as he rotates his squad for the trip to Rome, with Craig Casey coming in at scrum-half and Bundee Aki replacing Stuart McCloskey at inside centre.
The three changes in the forwards see Ronan Kelleher start at hooker, Iain Henderson feature in the second row and Jack Conan come in at number eight.
Tadhg Beirne has been ruled out for the remainder of the tournament, while Conan's introduction will see Peter O'Mahony drop to the bench and Caelan Doris shift to the blindside.
There are also a trio of new faces amongst the replacements, with Dan Sheehan, Ryan Baird and potential Six Nations debutant Jack Crowley all coming in to the matchday squad.
Italy have made three changes to their starting XV for this match, with Tommaso Allan one of those to drop to the bench as Paolo Garbisi returns at fly-half.
The Montpellier man returned from a sprained knee ligament to feature for his club last week, and is thrown straight back into the Italy side for this one.
Pierre Bruno also comes back in on the wing, with Luca Morisi dropping to the bench and Tommaso Menoncello moving inside to 12.
The only change in the pack sees Simone Ferrari return in place of Marco Riccioni at tighthead, while on the bench Giovanni Pettinelli comes in for the injured Jake Polledri.
Italy starting lineup:
15. Ange Capuozzo, 14. Edoardo Padovani, 13. Juan Ignacio Brex, 12. Tommaso Menoncello, 11. Pierre Bruno, 10. Paolo Garbisi, 9. Stephen Varney; 1. Danilo Fischetti, 2. Giacomo Nicotera, 3. Simone Ferrari, 4. Niccolò Cannone, 5. Federico Ruzza, 6. Sebastian Negri, 7. Michele Lamaro (c), 8. Lorenzo Cannone
Replacements: 16. Luca Bigi, 17. Federico Zani, 18. Marco Riccioni, 19. Edoardo Iachizzi, 20. Giovanni Pettinelli, 21. Alessandro Fusco, 22. Luca Morisi, 23. Tommaso Allan
Ireland starting lineup:
15. Hugo Keenan, 14. Mack Hansen, 13. Garry Ringrose, 12. Bundee Aki, 11. James Lowe, 10. Ross Byrne, 9. Craig Casey; 1. Andrew Porter, 2. Ronan Kelleher, 3. Finlay Bealham, 4. Iain Henderson 5. James Ryan (c), 6. Caelan Doris, 7. Josh van der Flier, 8. Jack Conan
Replacements: 16. Dan Sheehan, 17. Dave Kilcoyne, 18. Tom O'Toole, 19. Ryan Baird, 20. Peter O'Mahony, 21. Conor Murray, 22. Jack Crowley, 23. Stuart McCloskey
Head To Head
© Reuters
Italy have only ever beaten Ireland once in the Six Nations, and that came a decade ago when they ran out 22-15 winners at the Stadio Olimpico.
The other 22 meetings have all gone the way of Ireland, including each of the last nine, and on seven of those nine occasions Ireland have put more than 45 points on the board.
That was true when they met at the Aviva Stadium last year too as Farrell's men ran in nine tries en route to a 57-6 triumph, while their last visit to Rome saw them win 48-10 in 2021.
Across their all-time history, Ireland have won 30 of the 34 meetings, with Italy taking the remaining four.
We say: Italy 10-54 Ireland
With all of the attacking talent on show, this should be an entertaining game - unless, of course, you are an Italy fan.
The home side should take confidence from elements of their showings against France and England, but Ireland are another step up from those two again and, unlike on week one, their opponents have now had time to gel and get accustomed to each other.
Italy are not a team anyone will risk underestimating this year, but Saturday's match should be a fairly straightforward win for the favourites.
No Data Analysis info
Barney Corkhill
