Italy need to stay in the game if they can

DUBLIN has been anything other than a fair city for Italy in the last decade. Playing a rerouted England side in Rome is one thing, but if the Azzurri are to show visible signs of progress they will need to front up at a ground where they have tended to go missing. 

- PAUL REES DUBLIN

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.