Italy’s losing streak to continue against Ireland

Italy will have to play out of their skin if they want to upset the apple cart and beat Ireland in their Six Nations fixture in Rome on Sunday.

Despite playing on their home turf, the Azzurri head into this match low on confidence as they have suffered 19 successive defeats in the Six Nations.

That is the worst losing streak in the history of the tournament with their last win registered way back in 2015 when they beat Scotland in a third round encounter at Murrayfield.

The Azzurri have battled once again and despite finishing strongly in their tournament opener with Scotland and being competitive in their next match against Wales, they are still searching for that elusive win.

Making matters worse for the home side is that they will be without the services of their inspirational skipper and number eight Sergio Parisse, who is ruled out after suffering a concussion while playing for his club Stade Francais in the Top 14 last weekend.

Parisse’s place at the base of the scrum has been taken by Braam Steyn, who shifts from the flank, while experienced hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini will take over the captaincy.

If truth be told, Italy are on a hiding to nothing as they have only beaten Ireland on four occasions in 29 previous Tests between these countries with the champions winning the other 25 matches. The Azzurri’s last triumph in this fixture came in Rome in 2013.

Ireland have also won the last four matches against Italy easily and scored more than 50 points on each occasion.

They will be hoping to make a statement in this match by putting in another clinical performance. Anything less than a bonus-point victory could be a catastrophe as it could also blow their faint hopes of defending their title.

After a brilliant 2018 season, in which they swept all before them, Joe Schmidt’s charges suffered a shock defeat to England in their Round One showdown in Dublin.

And although they were victorious in their next fixture against Scotland at Murrayfield, that was far from a convincing performance and they will be hoping to lay down a marker with a convincing display.

The performances of senior players like stand-in captain Peter O’Mahony, Rob Kearney, Johnny Sexton, Conor Murray and Sean O’Brien will be crucial and they will have to be at their best if Ireland want to show the other teams in the competition that they can still win the tournament for the second successive year.

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Players to watch:

For Italy: With their talismanic captain sidelined through concussion, there will be added responsibility on the shoulders of Braam Steyn, who shifts from the flank to take Parisse’s place at number eight. The South African-born back-row has played well in Italy’s two previous games in the tournament and should be at the forefront of the Azzurri’s forward onslaught again. He has impressed with his ball carrying, especially at close quarters, and is also handy at the breakdowns which will make him a handful to the Irish.

For Ireland: One player who will be keen to make an impact is scrum-half Conor Murray, who has been flying under the radar in this year’s Six Nations. He had a poor outing in Ireland’s loss to England in Dublin in the first round and although he improved in their Round Two win over Scotland at Murrayfield, he was still some way off his best form. When on song, Murray is arguably the best player in his position in the world with his accurate box kicks, sniping breaks and slick service to his outside backs particularly impressive. He will be hoping to tick all those boxes in this fixture.

Head-to-head: As their respective sides’ chief playmakers, much will be expected of Italy’s Tommaso Allan and Johnny Sexton of Ireland. Despite Italy’s poor performances, head coach Conor O’Shea has kept faith with Allan, who has delivered solid but unspectacular showings in their two previous fixtures. He faces a daunting task against Sexton, who is the current World Rugby Player of the Year, but Allan should not be overwhelmed by that challenge as this will not be the first time he has faced his more famous counterpart. Sexton will also be keen to hit the ground running after leaving the field with a head injury in the first half of Ireland’s previous match against Scotland a fortnight ago.

Previous results:

2018: Ireland won 54-7 in Chicago
2018: Ireland won 56-19 in Dublin
2017: Ireland won 63-10 in Rome
2016: Ireland won 58-15 in Dublin
2015: Ireland won 16-9 in London
2015: Ireland won 26-3 in Rome
2014: Ireland won 46-7 in Dublin
2013: Italy won 22-15 in Rome

Prediction: Ireland have too much firepower for the Azzurri and this will be another easy victory for the visitors. Ireland to notch another half century and will win by 35 points.

The teams:

Italy: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Edoardo Padovani, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Angelo Esposito, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Braam Steyn, 7 Maxime Mbanda’, 6 Jimmy Tuivaiti, 5 Dean Budd, 4 Federico Ruzza, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (c), 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements: 16 Luca Bigi, 17 Cherif Traore’, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 David Sisi, 20 Alessandro Zanni, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Ian Mckinley, 23 Tommaso Castello

Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jordi Murphy, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Quinn Roux, 4 Ultan Dillane, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Dave Kilcoyne
Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 John Ryan, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 John Cooney, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Andrew Conway

Date: Sunday, February 24
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Kick-off: 16:00 local (15:00 GMT)
Referee: Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Wayne Barnes (England), Karl Dickson (England)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)