Ireland eye unlikely Six Nations title against uncertain Italy

Ireland will look to bounce back against Italy following their 42-27 defeat to France (Paul Faith)

Ireland have a glimmer of hope that they can retain their Six Nations crown on Saturday when they take on Italy in Rome, looking to bounce back from a painful defeat to title favourites France.

Simon Easterby's team have to beat Italy and hope results go their way in order to win an unprecedented third straight title, as they sit third in the table and two points behind leaders France ahead of the fifth and final round of matches.

Regardless of how they do against the Italians, a win for France against Scotland in Paris -- or failing that, a bonus-point success for England in Cardiff -- would be enough to stop Ireland's recent dominance of the tournament.

Ireland were undone on their own patch last weekend by classic flair from Les Bleus, which had some serious fire added to it after talisman Antoine Dupont tore his cruciate ligaments in a challenge which left the French seething and desperate to make a point.

But Ireland, who will have Jack Crowley at fly-half for the first time in this year's tournament, will still be firm favourites to beat an Italy side who suffered hefty defeats at the hands of both England and France in their last two matches.

"We weren't good enough in lots of areas last week and I think the squad have a real internal motivation to perform and to play at their best when they play in an Irish jersey," Easterby told reporters.

"We can't change what went on on Saturday but we can certainly have an impact on the performance and the right result this weekend.

"And then who knows? There's a chance and we just need to make sure we've prepared in the right way this week against a really good Italian team.

"It's an intriguing match-up. We know what we need to do to get the best out of ourselves and we need to make sure we've a full focus on that."

- No Healy farewell -

The thousands of Ireland fans set to flock to Rome will however not have a chance to say goodbye to prop Cian Healy, whose record number of caps for his country will stay at 137 after the 37-year-old didn't even make the matchday squad.

"It is tough but we have very limited time to get players these types of experiences... We don't have many opportunities at international level for meaningful games to get game experiences, get guys game time, so that was the conversation I had with Cian," said Easterby.

"He was obviously disappointed but he understood the rationale behind it and he has been brilliant in the week."

Italy coach Gonzalo Quesada has again made a raft of changes after conceding 73 and 47 points against the French and English in their two most recent matches.

Skipper and flanker Michele Lamaro has been dropped to the bench with centre Juan Ignacio Brex taking the captain's armband.

The Azzurri are just one point above bottom-team Wales and have a worse points difference due to those heavy defeats.

Italy were hit hard by their hammering at the hands of the French after encouraging displays against Scotland and Wales and Quesada is trying to end the lapses in attention and individual errors which so often cost his team.

"We looked deeply at what's causing these blackouts, why they come, how to deal with them and we think we've worked out where it is we lose our way," said Quesada.

"We've found what we think might be the solution... That's the biggest challenge on Saturday because there are going to be a lot of tough moments when we will be under pressure.

"I'm sure that we'll play better than we did against England and France... If we can keep up our energy levels then I'm sure that we can play much better and leave a truer impression of who we are."

td/nf

15h ago

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