Here’s a preview of the weekend’s final Six Nations match. Italy will travel to Dublin to take on defending champions Ireland in what is expected to be an entertaining match.
The two teams go into this game at opposite ends of the Six Nations after suffering contrasting fortunes in last weekend’s Championship opener.
Ireland made an early statement of their determination to get off to a great start with a resounding 38-17 bonus point victory over France in Marseille.
Meanwhile, the Azzurri were involved in a close game against England in Rome, but although they made an impressive start, taking an early 10-0 lead and leading 17-14 at half-time, they slowed down in the second half. Ta. before losing 27-24.
Italy may be looking for a chance to pull off an upset after Ireland made changes to their squad after their win against Les Bleus. However, the Azzurri suffered a double setback as rear-line stars Sebastian Negri and Lorenzo Canone were ruled out through injury, while rear-line star Ange Capozzo, who had been withdrawn due to illness before the match against England, Although he gained momentum after returning.
Both Ireland and Italy have shown great attacking intent in recent years, seeing Andy Farrell’s troops reap bigger rewards, but this match-up will see plenty of end-to-end action. It’s sure to be thrilling and full of excitement.
What will happen in the battle?
The battle up front will be massive as both teams are ready to entertain us with their attacking styles of play. And each of the two packs will be determined to build an advantage, providing a solid front-foot ball to their respective backlines.
Whichever team can master that aspect of the game should come out on top, but that’s easier said than done as neither team set the world alight with last weekend’s exchange of forwards.
It will be interesting to see how the Irish scrum holds up against the Azzurri. Despite showing a dominant performance against France, they struggled in terms of play and their scrum win rate was less than 75%. On the other hand, Italy’s scrum was strong against England, with a win rate of 85.71%.
The last time we met
what they said
Azzurri’s Argentinian head coach Gonzalo Quesada believes the key to his team’s success in the Six Nations is playing like the Italians.
“I know what I want, not the identity of Gonzalo or the identity of the Italian team,” he said. “It’s not just the way you play rugby.
“I’m Latin. Emotions are important for everyone, but especially in rugby.
“When you play in Italy, with Italian players, that heart, that passion kindles a little bit, and maybe you go back to your roots.”
Meanwhile, despite dominating the game in recent years, Ireland back-rower Jack Connan expects a tough challenge against Italy.
“They’re a quality team, they really are,” he said. “I think they are more than capable of taking a few scalps and feel they are getting close, as you saw with some of the tries they scored against England at the weekend. So there are no easy games and that’s what we are doing.”I have no illusions that this is going to be a big deal.
“I know it was a big win.” [against France] However, Italy will be a big challenge for us defensively, as they have a completely different attacking image, play from everywhere and take advantage of every opportunity. ”
Featured players
Peter O’Mahony was absent from this match. keiran doris He becomes the captain of the Irish national team for the first time. The 25-year-old is among the best in the business with his ball-running and defensive abilities, is strong on either flank and will be keen to build on his solid performance against Les Bleus last weekend. The Leinsterman has also shifted into the unfamiliar role of openside flanker and it will be interesting to see how he adapts to his new position while also taking on the additional responsibility of leadership.
One of the players who made the most of his chance against France was the young second row. Joe McCarthyAt Marseille, he attracted attention with his excellent all-round performances and subsequently left with the official man of the match award. The young second-rower shined at the lineout, in attack and in defence, attracting attention with an excellent all-round effort, which will be appreciated by the fans at the Aviva Stadium this weekend.
💚 Joe McCarthy presents the Player of the Match award to his brother Andrew.pic.twitter.com/eypkKWkH18
— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) February 3, 2024
Another player who wants to impress for Ireland is the scrum-half. Craig Casey, he makes a rare start with his home country’s run-up team. The 24-year-old is expected to provide a solid service at outside-back and is expected to combine with Munster team-mate Jack Crowley at half-back as Ireland aim for back-to-back wins in the Championship. It will be closely scrutinized.
One man who has proven invaluable to the Azzurri cause is their captain Michele Ramaro, like Doris, plans to change positions in the back row. The 25-year-old, who usually plays at open side, will be forced to play as No. 8 due to Lorenzo Cannone’s injury. Lamaro had an outstanding performance for Italy against England, with a solid carry and finishing with 19 tackles in the opening game, more than any other player. He will be hoping to repeat his effort against Italy.
Also pay attention to speedsters Monty IoanEven in the game where they narrowly lost to England, they stood out with their wonderful attacking power and achieved a good result. The 29-year-old is a hard-working winger who keeps the defense solid with great attacking skills. He scored 77 meters in 12 runs against England and scored an excellent try. He will certainly test the Irish defense on Sunday. Ange Capozzo.
Although he is not on the run-up side this week, Tommaso Alan He could make an impact off the bench late in games, especially off the kick tee. Alan scored a try against England to become Italy’s top try scorer (8) in the Men’s Six Nations, and also scored 12 points to become Italy’s top try scorer (165) in the Championship, surpassing Diego Dominguez (162). ). He also broke his 500 mark for his entire Test career in that Test (501).
main match
The battle between the fly-halves is usually the key battle in any Test, and the duel between the Irish representatives jack crowley and italian Paolo Garbisi Two of the most promising young playmakers in the game will go head-to-head.
Crawley went into the Six Nations under enormous pressure as his country’s first-choice No. 10, replacing the great Johnny Sexton, but despite some nervous moments early on against France, he quickly found his own. He got used to his role and controlled the flow of the match as it progressed. A similar performance against the Azzurri would solidify his place in the Emerald Isle’s powerhouse team, but it won’t be easy going up against Garbisi, who has a similar skill set to Crowley.
Garbisi was able to attack the backline well against England and had some good moments and the Azzurri were rewarded with three tries. He will need to give his all at the Aviva Stadium, as Italy often impresses with his songs.
prediction
Despite making some changes to their strong side, Ireland still have a strong backbone, which will give them an edge against the visitors. Similar to last weekend, the Azzurri started well but were not competitive for the full 80 minutes, with Ireland dominating the game in the final quarter. Ireland won by 24 points.
past results
2023: Ireland won 33-17 in Dublin.
2023: Ireland beat Roma 34-20
2022: Ireland won 57-6 in Dublin.
2021: Ireland beat Roma 48-10
2020: Ireland won 50-17 in Dublin.
2019: Ireland won 29-10 in Dublin.
2019: Ireland beat Roma 26-16
2018: Irish win 54-7 in Chicago
team
Ireland: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Sheeran Doris (c), 6 Ryan Baird, 5 James Ryan, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacement: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Jeremy Rahman, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Ian Henderson, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Harry Byrne, 23 Jordan Larmour
Italy: 15 Ange Capozzo, 14 Lorenzo Pani, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monti Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Michele Ramaro (c), 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Alessandro Isécole, 5 Federico Luzza, 4 Niccolo Canone, 3 Pietro Ceccarelli, 2 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacement: 16 Giacomo Nicotera, 17 Mirco Spagnuolo, 18 Giosue Girocchi, Andrea Zambonin, 20 Ross Vincent, 21 Martin Page-Lillo, 22 Tommaso Allan, 23 Federico Mori
date: February 11th (Sun)
venue: Aviva Stadium
kick off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant referee: Mathieu Reynal (France), Luc Ramos (France)
TMO: Eric Gauzan (France)
read more: Nick Easter’s Six Nations predictions: One away win in the Cards and the ‘test’ Wales will pose for England