‘No passengers’ as Ireland aim to bury Paris pain

Ireland have won their past five home Six Nations games against Italy by at least 30 points and held the Azzurri scoreless in 2024, but few are expecting a cakewalk this weekend.

Italy have travelled to Dublin with their chests puffed out after beating Scotland in Rome last week.

It was an impressive performance from Gonzalo Quesada’s side in appalling conditions; they dominated Scotland at the set-piece and held firm in the closing stages to win 18-15.

In contrast, “honesty”, “nobody holding back” and “teething issues” have been some of the soundbites emerging from a downbeat Irish camp after last week’s return to Paris ended with their biggest Six Nations loss in 16 years.

Ireland’s deeply disappointing first-half display against France irked head coach Andy Farrell.

He criticised his side’s “lack of intent” and wielded the axe for Italy’s visit to Dublin, with Josh van der Flier, Jacob Stockdale, Tommy O’Brien and Cian Prendergast all excluded having started last week.

For Caelan Doris, that means the players – including Six Nations debutants Cormac Izuchukwu and Rob Baloucoune and uncapped lock Edwin Edogbo – taking “full ownership”.

“It’s an exciting team we’ve got [for Saturday],” said Ireland captain Doris.

“There’s obviously a few changes, so getting cohesion through the week has been important. The message to those guys [coming in] is to trust themselves.

“Same with all of us really off the back of a defeat like that; doubling down on what we’re good at, doing things properly with intent, enjoying it and enjoying it from doing things properly with intent as well.”

He added: “Creating a feeling through how we show up with actions, and it can be infectious that. But also to the new guys it’s making sure they own it and make it feel like it’s properly theirs.

Ireland were ruthlessly dismantled by France last week. Having seen his side dominated in the air, Farrell has responded by removing wingers Stockdale and O’Brien and elevating James Lowe and Baloucoune.

The hope is they will both help steer Ireland away from a lack of intent on Saturday.

Lowe, a British and Irish Lion who has been virtually ever-present for Farrell’s Ireland, was dropped for Stockdale while in-form Ulsterman Baloucoune is back in a green jersey for the first time since November 2022.

And while Nick Timoney is unfortunate not to start after his effective introduction off the bench in Paris, Izuchukwu – another of Baloucoune’s Ulster team-mates – should add to Ireland’s dynamism and ball-carrying threat in the back row.

There is excitement, too, over Edogbo’s inclusion on the bench. The 6ft 5ins, 127kg lock’s young career has been ravaged by injury, but his performances for Munster this season have been difficult to overlook.

For Doris, there is a switch back to open-side flanker, where Farrell has twice used him before against Italy. He scored two tries against the Azzurri while performing that role in a World Cup warm-up game in 2023 and again slotted in at seven for Ireland’s 36-0 win two years ago.

Regardless of where he plays, though, Doris just wants to see Ireland move past their Parisian pain and put in a statement performance before next week’s trip to title contenders England.

“There’s been several chats throughout the week,” added the 27-year-old.

“The big thing has been about holding each other more accountable as a leadership group, as a wider group, all of us taking full ownership and driving things in the right direction.

“We’ve kind of spoken a little bit about last week being a reference point that we’ll hopefully look back on from a place of improvement this week, but also going forward as well.

For Italy, the opportunity to deliver one of the all-time Six Nations shocks beckons.

Beyond beating Scotland last week, they weren’t far off stunning Ireland last year, losing 22-17.

They arrive in Dublin with myriad threats. While Juan Ignacio Brex – excellent against Scotland – is ruled out, his midfield partner Tommaso Menoncello is one of the brightest young talents in Europe.

And the Italian forwards will not fear Ireland after dominating Scotland and causing issues for the fearsome South African pack in November.

“It’s no longer a case of them just being a very passionate team,” said Doris.

“They’ve got a properly good attack now, defensively they’ve always been pretty strong and are willing to get off the line and hit properly and you saw that last week in the wet conditions.

Ireland: Osborne; Baloucoune, Ringrose, McCloskey, Lowe; S Prendergast, Casey; Loughman, Sheehan, Clarkson, McCarthy, Ryan, Izuchukwu, Doris (capt), Conan.

Replacements: Kelleher, O’Toole, Furlong, Edogbo, Beirne, Timoney, Gibson-Park, Crowley.

Italy: Pani; Lynagh, Marin, Menoncello, Ioane; P Garbisi, Fusco; Fischetti, Nicotera, Ferrari, N Cannone, Zambonin, Lamaro (capt), Zuliani, L Cannone.