RWC MatchDay Live: Ireland v Italy
All eyes will be on the cauldron that is Otago Stadium as Ireland attempt to qualify for the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals on the back of their fourth straight pool win. You can keep up-to-date with Sunday’s game via our RWC MatchDay Live service right here on IrishRugby.ie.
RWC MatchDay Live – Click Here
Brian O’Driscoll, who has played in 12 previous wins over Italy, is hoping to captain Ireland to their fourth victory in the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Declan Kidney’s selected team shows eight personnel changes to the one that started last weekend’s win over Russia in Rotorua.
Experienced centres O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy return for a world record 46th start together for Ireland, while winger Keith Earls will be keen to mark his 24th birthday with a try.
Ireland have never won their pool at a Rugby World Cup, finishing second in their first five attempts between 1987 and 2003 and they were third in 2007.
A win in Dunedin would also break Ireland’s record streak for consecutive victories at a World Cup, which currently stands at three.
Italy, who welcome back Andrea Masi at full-back, still have an opportunity to progress to the last-eight of the tournament. They will be certain of qualification if they beat Ireland and Kidney’s charges do not pick up two bonus points.
We will have live text commentary direct from the covered Otago Stadium, which will be the home venue for the Highlanders in next season’s Super 15 competition. Otago will also play there in New Zealand’s ITM Cup.
Plug in your laptop or turn on the PC and enjoy a flavour of Sunday’s match live on IrishRugby.ie. There will be full live text and score updates throughout the coverage as Ireland bid to make it four wins out of four.
You can watch live TV coverage of the match on RTÉ Two, Setanta Sports Ireland and UTV. There will be highlights on a number of channels later in the day, including TG4.
Michael Corcoran will also be doing live commentary of the game on RTÉ Radio 1, with their coverage beginning shortly before kick-off.
Starting at 8pm NZ time/8am Irish time with our pre-match build-up (the game kicks off at 8.30pm NZ time/8.30am Irish time), you can feel part of the action on IrishRugby.ie with MatchDay Live.
Look out for the MatchDay Live button in the Ireland section or simply click on the link below:
RWC MatchDay Live – Click Here
Follow the Ireland team in New Zealand on www.twitter.com/irfurugby.