Italy and Ireland come into the Championship from opposite ends of the spectrum. Ireland have been tipped as potential winners following on from their success last year and in the autumn, while Italy have plateaued since a mini-renaissance a few years ago and are odds-on favourites for the Wooden Spoon again, especially since Scotland look like a tougher proposition this season.
Italy
The Southern Europeans field one of the most-capped outfits in the history of the Six Nations, with front-rows Matias Aguero, Leo Ghiraldini and Martin Castrogiovanni sharing 206 appearances between them.
There’s no shortage of experience in the back-row either, with the 108 times capped Sergio Parisse leading the team as per usual, flanked by 86-capped Alessandro Zanni and 11-capped Francesco Minto. Joshua Furno and George Biagi complete the pack in the engine room.
24-year-old Edoardo Gori is the most experienced scrum-half in the squad and he starts on Saturday, while Kelly Haimona is preferred over Tommaso Allen at fly-half after impressing during the Autumn Internationals.
Andrea Masi is preferred over Luke McLean – who shifts to the wing – at fullback, with Leonardo Sarto on the other wing. Livewire Michele Campagnaro is at 13 and Luca Morisi at 12. Italy are fielding a very inexperienced bench however; only Alberto de Marchi, Allan and Giovanbattista Venditti are in double figures in terms of caps. Back-row Marco Barbini will make his debut if he features.
Ireland
A high number of injuries have forced Joe Schmidt’s hand somewhat. Jamie Heaslip either hasn’t recovered in time, or is being rested for the France game with clubmate Jordi Murphy starting at eight, and Ian Keatley beating Ian Madigan for the concussed Johnny Sexton’s 10 shirt.
Mike Ross takes the tight-head shirt from Marty Moore, despite the latter being Leinster’s number one prop. Jack McGrath starts at loosehead thanks to Cian Healy’s injury with Rory Best completing the front row.
Devin Toner and Paul O’Connell are the starting locks, and Sean O’Brien and Peter O’Mahony start on the flanks meaning that the pack is still a fearsome beast. Conor Murray is fit enough to start at scrum-half, and the selection of Tommy Bowe and Simon Zebo mean that Schmidt starts his first-choice wingers.
Rob Kearney is picked at the back and Robbie Henshaw and Jared Payne complete an exciting backline.
All Eyes On
It’s pretty much impossible to talk about Italy and not mention Sergio Parisse. The guy is pretty much a modern day Jupiter in the eyes of the Italians. In terms of carries and defenders beaten there are few that come close to him, and along with his fleetness of foot and hands that a scrum-half would envy, this makes him one of the best eights in the world.
Flanker Peter O’Mahony has quietly gone about turning himself into one of the modern day blindsides in the game. He’s managed to calm down the fiery temper he had when he was a youngster, but he still has enough about to him to give a controlled edge to his game. He’s a superb tackler and a very hard man to get off the ball once he latches his mitts onto it at the breakdown. He leads from the front and could be Ireland’s next captain.
Prediction
Ireland have still been able to name a strong team despite them missing a large number of key names. In all honesty, they could probably name their Wolfhounds team and still beat Italy who, despite defeating Samoa in the autumn, have not looked impressive recently. Rome is still a tricky place to go though and it may come down to the replacements. If it does then expect Ireland to blow Italy out of the water. Ireland by 17.
By Calum Gillon (@C_Gillon)
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images