Kickoff: 2:15pm
Date: Saturday 15th March
Location: Stadio Olympico, Rome
Watch on: ITV 1
Team news
Italy
1.Fischetti 2.Lucchesi 3.Ferrari 4.Lamb 5.Ruzza
6.Negri 7.Zuliani 8.L.Cannone 9.Page-Relo 10.Garbisi
11.Ioane 12.Menoncello 13.Brex 14.Capuozzo 15.Allan
16.Nicotera 17.Spagnolo 18.Zilocchi 19.N.Cannone
20.Lamaro 21.Vintcent 22.Varney 23.Marin
Ireland
1.Porter 2.Sheehan 3.Bealham 4.Ryan 5. Beirne
6.Conan 7.Van der Flier 8.Doris(C) 9.Gibson Park 10.Crowley
11.Lowe 12.Henshaw 13.Ringrose 14.Hansen 15.Keenan
16.G.McCarthy 17.Boyle 18.Furlong 19.J.McCarthy
20.O'Mahony 21.Murray 22.Prendergast 23.Aki
Italy come into this game as massive underdogs following their 3 defeats already in this tournament. However, the Italians should not be written off at all. In order to do this, Quesada has made a few changes to his team. Tomasso Allan comes back into the starting line-up to replace Gallagher with Capuozzo moving to the wing where he has played the majority of his recent Italy appearances in recent times. Page-Relo has been promoted to the starting line-up and Varney drops to the bench after a mixed day at Twickenham. Ross Vintcent has also been dropped despite playing well against England. Negri. Zuliani and Cannomne make up the back row.
Ireland have brought back some of the stars for this one. Furlong will make his first appearance of the tournament when he comes off the bench to replace Bealham and Ringrose is back in after his suspension. McCarthy has dropped to the bench following his mistake-ridden outing against France and is replaced by Ryan.
The biggest news is the return of Jack Crowley to the starting line-up who had seemingly not even been given a chance at the position until this week. The rhetoric from the Irish coaches also seems to have changed from hinting that his future was being versatile enough to play 12 and 15, if that's the idea the coaches should just pick Frawley, to now being considered an actual starter at his natural position. The cynic in me wonders if this decision has been influenced by recent media reports about him moving away from Ireland as it has be Prendergast's dodgy day in Dublin. The rumours I hinted at have been reported by Chis Foy in the Mail and refer to Leicester's desperate search to replace the departing Handre Pollard. Several options have been allegedly looked at including Owen Farrell but it now seems that Crowley is next to be offered a contract in the range of £700k which would be a massive upgrade on his Munster deal which is about a 3rd of the size. If Ireland are serious about keeping him around it would make sense to offer him a 600k central contract to stay at Munster.
The decision to start him against Italy of all teams is also a strange one. If he plays well he won't be praised much due to the opposition but if he doesn't play well he may not get another shot at the position. Whatever happens, he is a quality player who is goof enough to be on a better contract and play more minutes for his country and I hope both of those things happen.
Italy can't go higher than 5th but Ireland still have a chance to win, although the hope is minimal. Ireland need to secure a bonus point win and then get a lot of help from their Celtic "friends" in Scotland and Wales.
Score Prediction
Italy 17 vs 32 Ireland
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