Opta Facts: Men’s Six Nations – Italy v Ireland
Robbie Henshaw makes a break during Ireland's 36-0 bonus point victory at home to Italy last year ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan
It is destination Rome for Ireland’s final match of the 2025 Guinness Men’s Six Nations, as they target a winning finish to the tournament against Italy at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday (kick-off 2.15pm). Check out the Opta Facts, provided by Stats Perform.
– Ireland have won 24 of their 25 Guinness Men’s Six Nations clashes with Italy, the exception being a 22-15 defeat in 2013
– That result from 12 years ago meant Italy (fourth) finished ahead of Ireland (fifth) that season despite Ireland beating the eventual champions Wales in the opening round
– Since Italy beat Ireland in the 2013 edition of the Men’s Six Nations, Ireland have won all 11 encounters, scoring an average of 6.5 tries per game in those wins which have come by an average margin of victory of 34 points
– Ireland have won seven of their last eight away games in the Men’s Six Nations, their only loss in that time coming against England in round 4 last year
– However, the last two times that they have had an away fixture in round 5 of the Championship they have ended up losing (against Wales in 2019 and France in 2020)
– Italy have lost each of their last two Men’s Six Nations matches after losing just one in five previously (W3, D1)
– Nonetheless, should they defeat Ireland, they will have recorded multiple wins in back-to-back Six Nations tournaments for the first time, having only previously done so in 2007 and 2013
– Italy lost their most recent Men’s Six Nations game at the Stadio Olimpico by a margin of 49 points (73-24 v France). That was their second heaviest defeat at home in the Championship, only behind a 53-point loss to Ireland in 2017 (63-10)
– Italy have made the most dominant tackles (66) and the joint-most turnover-winning tackles (12, level with Wales) of any team in this year’s Championship, while Ireland rank bottom in both categories, having made just 33 dominant and seven turnover-winning tackles
– Only England (150) have made more kicks in play than Italy (132) or Ireland (125, level with France) in this year’s Men’s Six Nations
– Ireland have retained possession from 19% of their kicks (24), the highest rate of any team. They have also made more 50:22 kicks (3) than every other side combined (2)
– Ireland’s Dan Sheehan has scored two tries in the Championship this year, taking his tally to 10 overall in the Men’s Six Nations. He is the first forward to reach double figures in the Championship’s history. He scored a brace against Italy in Dublin last year
– Only Jac Morgan (73) has made more tackles in the Championship this year than Italy’s Sebastian Negri (67), who has made the joint-most dominant tackles of any player (10, level with Morgan)
– Negri’s team-mate, Tommaso Menoncello, has made the most tackles (45) and dominant tackles (8) of any back this year
– Of the 58 players to have made 20+ carries in the 2025 Men’s Six Nations, Ireland duo Jack Conan (63%) and Jamie Osborne (62%) are two of just three players with a dominant carry rate above 60% (also France’s Paul Boudehent)
– Conan has scored a try in each of his last three games in the Championship, and also crossed the whitewash against Italy in 2024