Ireland resume their Guinness Six Nations campaign in Rome this afternoon, aiming to register their first win of 2021 against Franco Smith’s ever-improving Italy side.
There are two uncapped players among the replacements for the game in Rome (kick-off 3.15pm local time/2.15pm Irish time), with Craig Casey and Ryan Baird in line to make their debuts.
Jonathan Sexton returns to captain the side on the occasion of his 50th Six Nations appearance. Jamison Gibson-Park keeps hold of the number 9 jersey, with Conor Murray continuing his hamstring rehab.
It is an all-Leinster back-line as Robbie Henshaw, who earns his 50th Ireland cap, partners Garry Ringrose again in midfield, and Jordan Larmour joins full-back Hugo Keenan and James Lowe in the back-three.
There is a new front row combination of Dave Kilcoyne, Ronan Kelleher and Tadhg Furlong. It will be Kilcoyne’s second Six Nations start of his career and a first for young hooker Kelleher, the only try scorer against France.
James Ryan slots back into the second row alongside Iain Henderson, while Tadhg Beirne reverts to the blindside berth. Will Connors gets his third Six Nations start at openside and CJ Stander, at number 8, completes the starting XV.
Farrell and his fellow coaches can call on plenty of experience off the bench, including centurion Cian Healy and 90-times capped winger Keith Earls.
Healy’s Leinster colleague, Jack Conan, is also standing by for his first appearance in the green jersey since the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
The Zebre play-maker is the most experienced player named in Italy’s matchday squad, as he lines up alongside the twice-capped Juan Ignacio Brex in the midfield.
Montanna Ioane, the scorer of the Azzurri’s opening try against England, Jacopo Trulla and Luca Sperandio complete the back-three.
The hosts’ back-line is marshalled by 20-year-old Benetton starlet Paolo Garbisi and equally-promising teenage scrum half Stephen Varney, who plays his club rugby with Gloucester in England.
There is an even split of Benetton and Zebre clubmen in the starting pack, led by hooker and captain Luca Bigi. The front row also contains Andrea Lovotti, the player with the second most caps (44) in the Italian line-up, and Marco Riccioni.
Locks David Sisi and Marco Lazzaroni get the nod for their 14th Test appearances, while Benetton’s Michele Lamaro wins his fifth cap at number 8, supported by flankers Sebastian Negri and Johan Meyer.
Smith has rejigged his bench from the England defeat. This time Danilo Fischetti, Federico Ruzza, Guglielmo Palazzani and Tommaso Allan all make way for Cherif Traore, Maxime Mbanda, Callum Braley and Mattia Bellini.
Guinness Six Nations Fixtures/Results
Guinness Six Nations Table
ITALY: Jacopo Trulla (Kawasaki Robot Calvisano); Luca Sperandio (Benetton Rugby), Juan Ignacio Brex (Benetton Rugby), Carlo Canna (Zebre), Montanna Ioane (Benetton Rugby); Paolo Garbisi (Benetton Rugby), Stephen Varney (Gloucester); Andrea Lovotti (Zebre), Luca Bigi (Zebre) (capt), Marco Riccioni (Benetton Rugby), Marco Lazzaroni (Benetton Rugby), David Sisi (Zebre), Sebastian Negri (Benetton Rugby), Johan Meyer (Zebre), Michele Lamaro (Benetton Rugby).
Replacements: Gianmarco Lucchesi (Benetton Rugby), Cherif Traore (Benetton Rugby), Giosue Zilocchi (Zebre), Niccolo Cannone (Benetton Rugby), Maxime Mbanda (Zebre), Callum Braley (Benetton Rugby), Federico Mori (Kawasaki Robot Calvisano), Mattia Bellini (Zebre).
IRELAND: Hugo Keenan (UCD/Leinster); Jordan Larmour (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster), Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster), James Lowe (Leinster); Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) (capt), Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster); Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster), Ronan Kelleher (Lansdowne/Leinster), Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster), Iain Henderson (Academy/Ulster), James Ryan (UCD/Leinster), Tadhg Beirne (Lansdowne/Munster), Will Connors (UCD/Leinster), CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster).
Replacements: Rob Herring (Ballynahinch/Ulster), Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster), Ryan Baird (Dublin University/Leinster), Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Craig Casey (Shannon/Munster), Billy Burns (Ulster), Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster).
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant Referees: Mike Adamson (Scotland), Craig Evans (Wales)
Television Match Official: Romain Poite (France)
Pre-Match Quotes: Andy Farrell (Ireland) –
There’s quite a lot right within our game, but it all comes down to having a clinical edge at this level. Our fight, our want, our will to impose ourselves against the opposition has been top class.
“The finishing clinical edge is obviously always the missing part of any ingredient of a side that wants to be world class. That’s what we’re striving for and hopefully we can make a jump in that direction this weekend.
“Obviously you’ve got to get your basics right as well. Your set piece again has to be strong, which it has been. That will give us a good front-foot ball.
“We need to be a little bit more connected in our attack, our breakdown work has to be ferocious for the quick ball. We want to play at the tempo that we want to play at. That isn’t just quick. It’s being able to slow it down and speed it up at the appropriate manner.”
Franco Smith (Italy) –
We’ve worked a lot on ourselves, focusing on our game-plan.
“Against Ireland we aim to show the same attitude we showed in the last match with the aim of taking another step forward in the growth path.”
Pre-Match Links –
‘We’re Focused On Better Performances Leading To Better Results’ – Sexton
Farrell On The Changes Made For Italy Match
In Pics: Ireland Captain’s Run In Rome
Fogarty: Killer And Tadhg ‘Delighted To Be Back’
Henderson Praises Coaches For Set Piece Improvements