RECAP: Ireland v Italy
READERS’ FORUM: Welcome to our coverage of the Six Nations Round Four, catch-up match between Ireland and Italy in Dublin.
Ireland are determined to lift the mood of a country that is back in coronavirus lockdown by delivering a bonus-point win over Italy on Saturday that would lift them to the top of the Six Nations table.
The Northern Hemisphere tournament returns this weekend, seven months after it was put on hold as COVID-19 rampaged across Europe.
Five points from the match in Dublin would take Andy Farrell’s men one point clear of England and France ahead of the final round of matches the following week.
* To read our pre-match predictions, CLICK HERE!
* Our live blog will appear below, it might take a little while to load, please be patient. We apologise for the inconvenience!
Teams:
Ireland: 15 Jacob Stockdale, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Hugo Keenan, 10 Johnny Sexton (captain), 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Will Connors, 6 Caelan Doris, 5 James Ryan, 4 Tadhg Beirne, 3 Andrew Porter, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Peter O’Mahony, 21 Jamison Gibson Park, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Robbie Henshaw.
Italy: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Edoardo Padovani, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Carlo Canna, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Jake Polledri, 7 Braam Steyn, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Niccolo Cannone, 4 Marco Lazzaroni, 3 Giosue Zilocchi, 2 Luca Bigi (captain), 1 Danilo Fischetti.
Replacements: 16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Simone Ferrari, 18 Pietro Ceccarelli, 19 David Sisi, 20 Johan Meyer, 21 Maxime Mbanda, 22 Callub Braley, 23 Federico Mori.
Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant referees: Luke Pearce (England), Mike Adamson (Scotland)
TMO: Tom Foley (England)
