Italian Rugby Eyes are Smiling

Harlequins director of rugby, Conor O’Shea, will become the new head coach of the Italian national team in June.

The Italian Rugby Federation (FIR) announced on Friday the 45-year-old former Ireland full-back would succeed Jacques Brunel on a four-year contract. O’Shea, who led Quins to the Premiership title in 2012, will take the former England player and coach Mike Catt to Rome as his attack coach..

O’Shea had been strongly linked to the Italy job for several months, so his appointment comes as no surprise. His first task will be to help oversee Italy’s summer tour to Argentina, the United States and Canada.

The Azzurri finished bottom of the Six Nations table in 2016 – the 11th time in 17 appearances they have collected the wooden spoon. They conceded 224 points and 29 tries in five games, while in their final two fixtures against Ireland and Wales they were beaten 58-15 and 67-14 respectively.

In a statement posted on the Italian Rugby Federation and Harlequins websites, O’Shea said: “As I said when I announced that I would be leaving, I feel the end of this season is the right time for me to take on a new challenge. And I am honoured, humbled and excited that I will be working with everyone in Italian rugby to ensure they can achieve on the undoubted potential they have as a rugby nation.

“I spent many years in the 1990s playing against a great Italian side, and I know there is the ability and will within this current group of players and the FIR to ensure that the current team can become the best Italian team in its history. But that is for another time. For me now, there is a job to finish at Harlequins and to see if we can add some more silverware to the trophy cabinet at this great club. I will say my goodbyes then and not before.”

Harlequins have said they will announce a new director of rugby “in due course” and will not make any further comment until such time.

Catt returns to rugby after leaving his post as an England skills coach in December, following the host nation’s 2015 World Cup flop when they failed to progress beyond the pool stage. Catt, Andy Farrell and Graham Rowntree all departed the RFU, with the new England head coach, Eddie Jones, recruiting Steve Borthwick and Paul Gustard to work with him.

Stephen Aboud, currently the Irish Rugby Football Union’s head of technical direction, has also been appointed by Italy as head of training from 1 August.

The FIR president, Alfredo Gavazzi, said: “The appointment of this new head coach, his assistant and the head of training is a crucial turning point for the Italian Rugby Federation. We have identified three of the highest-profile figures, three men who are in possession of what we believe are the most suitable qualities that can contribute to the development of our team.

“O’Shea is a coach with a record of success on the pitch and strong managerial skills, who will add extra value to all the various components of the Italian rugby setup. We are excited to give Conor, Mike Catt and Stephen Aboud, who will play a crucial role in the development of Italian rugby, a warm welcome.”

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Wales v Italy - Preview

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Dan Lydiate will captain Wales in a Test match for the first time on Saturday, while Rhys Webb is preferred to Gareth Davies at scrum-half.

The other three changes are linked to injuries, with Justin Tipuric, Luke Charteris and Hallam Amos coming in.

Italy make five enforced changes. Tommy Allan is back at fly-half, with Andrea Pratichetti in for Michele Campagnaro.

Quintin Geldenhuys and Valerio Bernabo are selected in the second row and Martin Castrogiovanni is back at prop.

Wales head coach Warren Gatland: "This weekend it is all about finishing off the tournament well and putting in a big performance.

"Saturday is a good chance for some of the players to redeem themselves.

"A lot of questions have been asked about Italy. I think they thoroughly deserve to be in the Six Nations. They have contributed to it enormously and had some great wins over the years."

Italy head coach Jacques Brunel: "The spine of the team is not different to that which has played this tournament.

"Wales, like Ireland, is capable of playing with great effectiveness. We cannot concede them time and space like we did in Dublin. It will be crucial to slow down their play and maintain the right attitude for the whole 80 minutes."

Head-to-head

Wales have won nine matches in a row against Italy since a 23-20 defeat in Rome in 2007.

The closest Italy have ever come to beating their hosts in Wales was an 18-18 draw in 2006 at the now-Principality Stadium. The Italians have lost their other 11 away games against Wales.

Wales could earn six successive victories at the Principality Stadium for the first time. They won their opening five Tests there in 1999. They have won their concluding Six Nations match in each of the past four seasons.

Italy have only won two of their 42 Six Nations away fixtures, both in Edinburgh.

They have lost 11 of their last 13 matches, with their only wins coming in the World Cup pool stage against Canada and Romania.

Wales

15-Liam Williams, 14-George North, 13-Jonathan Davies, 12-Jamie Roberts, 11-Hallam Amos; 10-Dan Biggar, 9-Rhys Webb; 1-Rob Evans, 2-Scott Baldwin, 3-Samson Lee, 4-Bradley Davies, 5-Luke Charteris, 6-Dan Lydiate (captain), 7-Justin Tipuric, 8-Taulupe Faletau

Replacements: 16-Ken Owens, 17-Gethin Jenkins, 18-Aaron Jarvis, 19-Jake Ball, 20-Ross Moriarty, 21-Gareth Davies, 22-Rhys Priestland, 23-Gareth Anscombe

Italy

15-David Odiete, 14-Leonardo Sarto, 13-Andrea Pratichetti, 12-Gonzalo Garcia, 11-Mattia Bellini, 10-Tommaso Allan, 9-Guglielmo Palazzani; 1-Andrea Lovotti, 2-Davide Giazzon, 3-Martin Castrogiovanni, 4-Quintin Geldenhuys, 5-Valerio Bernabo, 6-Francesco Minto, 7-Alessandro Zanni, 8-Sergio Parisse (captain),

Replacements: 16-Oliviero Fabiani, 17-Matteo Zanusso, 18-Dario Chistolini, 19-Jacopo Sarto, 20-Abraham Steyn, 21-Alberto Lucchese, 22-Kelly Haimona, 23-Luke McLean.

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Romain Poite (France)

Assistant referees: Wayne Barnes (England) & Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)

TMO: George Ayoub (Australia)

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Castrogiovanni Banned for Aviva Trip

The Italy prop Martin Castrogiovanni has been banned for two weeks after stamping on Scotland’s Duncan Taylor during Saturday’s Six Nations encounter in Rome.

Castrogiovanni, who has made 118 Test appearances for Italy, appeared as a second-half replacement in Scotland’s 36-20 victory at the Stadio Olimpico and appeared to direct a stamp towards Taylor’s foot.

The Italy forward appeared before the Six Nations disciplinary committee on Wednesday when he acknowledged that he had committed the act of foul play.

The committee announced: “Mr Castrogiovanni, who has the right of appeal, is suspended up to and including Sunday 13 March 2016”, meaning he will miss the 12 March trip to Ireland in Dublin.

The committee, chaired by Mike Hamlin (England) along with Tommy Dalton (Ireland) and Rhian Williams (Wales), said it “found that the act of foul play warranted a red card” but that “the act was at the lower end of World Rugby’s sanctions, carrying a two-week suspension.

“Having considered the various mitigating factors involved, including the player’s admission and his regret at his actions, the disciplinary committee found that these were not sufficient to merit a reduction in the entry-point sanction and suspended Mr Castrogiovanni for two weeks.”

Italy rugby union team Ireland rugby union team Scotland rugby union team Six Nations 2016 Six Nations Rugby union

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Scotland are Wooden in Rome

Scotland suffered their first Six Nations whitewash since 2004 with a 13-6 defeat at the hands of Italy in Rome on Saturday.

Giovanbattista Venditti scored the only try of the game in a scrappy affair at the Stadio Olimpico to give the Italians their only win of the 2012 tournament.

A pair of penalties from fly-half Grieg Laidlaw were all that Scotland could muster in reply, in what was a fair reflection of a side that never really posed a serious threat to their hosts on the day.

With his RBS Six Nations campaign in tatters and the humiliation of carrying the wooden spoon back to Edinburgh, Andy Robinson will be facing serious questions over his future as Scottish Rugby looks to rebuild the nation's pride and reputation.

Mirco Bergamasco had opened the scoring for Italy with a penalty on 11 minutes after Scotland were caught entering a ruck from the side.

Then, 12 minutes later, the Italian winger missed the opportunity to extend the Azzurri lead, sending another penalty attempt wide of the uprights.

Scotland were handed the chance to level the scores with four minutes to go to the break when the home side infringed at the ruck.

Greg Laidlaw duly slotted the penalty over to make it 3-3, but Scotland soon found themselves in trouble when Nic de Luca was sin-binned for a deliberate knock down inside the final minute of the half.

Bergamasco, though, was unable to find the target for the second time, leaving the sides tied at three apiece after a forgettable opening period.

Scotland began the second half a man down and it took Italy less than three minutes to make them pay as they immediately put the visitors under pressure.

The Italians worked themselves into good field position and when the ball was fired out left from a ruck 10 metres out in front of the posts, Venditti skipped through the Scottish defence to touch down.

Kirs Burton added the extras to take his side into double figures, though almost immediately Scotland had a chance to close the gap by three after another Italian infringement at the ruck.

Laidlaw, however, missed the kick from a difficult angle and 10 minutes later Scotland found themselves back down to 14 men when Jim Hamilton became their second yellow card after playing Quintin Geldenhuys in the air at a line-out.

Laidlaw made amends on the hour mark slotting a penalty to make it 6-10 when Italy were pinged at the line out.

And six minutes later the Italians went a man down themselves when Alessandro Zanni was given a 10-minute break for playing the ball on the ground at a ruck.

Trailing by just four as the game entered its final 10 minutes, Scotland pushed for that elusive try in a desperate attempt to avoid the humiliation of a winless campaign.

But with just three minutes to go Burton shattered Scottish hearts with an audacious drop goal that put Italy 13-6 up, leaving the visitors needing a converted try to win.

It wasn't to be though for Scotland, who had failed to fire all afternoon, and with doubts about his future looming ever larger, Robinson must now try to make some sense of the wreckage of his side's season to forget.

Italy v Scotland - Preview

The Eternal City provides a fitting setting for a meeting between two sides whose troubles in the Six Nations seem never-ending.

For the second year running, Scotland and Italy face each other on the final weekend, in a wooden-spoon decider.

Andy Robinson's men were the victors at Murrayfield 12 months ago, sentencing Italy to their ninth bottom-place finish. They begin as marginal favourites again.

But their desperately poor record away from home means Scottish fans will travel to Rome with greater quantities of hope than expectation.

The desire to save face and avoid the Wooden Spoon ensures this is anything but a dead rubber.

Nevertheless, victory offers only slim consolation in the context of another tournament when Italy and Scotland failed to deliver any significant improvement on previous showings.

Both have had their moments of hope. Two tries against England gave Italy a whiff of a famous victory.

Scotland led France and should have beaten the Auld Enemy - their Calcutta Cup hopes eventually unravelling into a farce of missed opportunities.

But those were rare bright spots on a narrowing horizon. In truth, neither team has been able to produce a complete 80-minute performance in any of their games.

For all Jacques Brunel's talk of styling Italy in a more expansive attacking fashion, their strength remains in defence and in the pack, as they demonstrated in ensuring Wales did not have things all their own way last week.

Robinson's men have shown flashes of flair and promise thanks to the progress of Stuart Hogg and David Denton, amongst others, but against Ireland last week their defence capitulated.

That was another under-par performance on their travels. If they produce anything as ragged in Rome they are unlikely to add to the two victories they have enjoyed in their six previous championship visits.

Italy : 15-Massi, 14-Venditti, 13-Benvenuti, 12-Canale, 11-Bergamasco, 10-Burton, 9-Gori; 1-Lo Cicero, 2-Ongaro, 3-Castrogiovanni, 4-Geldenhuys, 5-Bortolami, 6-Zanni, 7-Barbieri, 8-Parisse.

Replacements: 16-D'Apice, 17-Cittadini, 18-Furno, 19-Favaro, 20-Vosawai, 21-Botes, 22-Toniolatti

Scotland : 15-Hogg, 14-Evans, 13-De Luca, 12-Morrison, 11-Lamont, 10-Laidlaw, 9-Blair; 1-Jacobsen, 2-Ford, 3-Cross, 4-Gray, 5-Hamilton, 6-Barclay, 7-Rennie, 8-Denton

Replacements: 16-Lawson, 17-Murray, 18-Kellock, 19-Vernon, 20-Cusiter, 21-Jackson, 22-Cuthbert

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee : Alain Rolland (Ireland)

Touch judges : George Clancy (Ireland), Pascal Gauzere (France)

TV : Tony Redmond (Ireland)

Castrogiovanni Back for Italy

Prop Martin Castrogiovanni has recovered from broken ribs and will line up in the Italy side to face Scotland at Rome's Stadio Olimpico on Saturday.

The Leicester front-rower had been expected to miss the remainder of the Six Nations championship after injuring himself in the narrow defeat to England last month.

However, the 30-year-old has made a swifter than expected recovery and will take his place in the Italian front row alongside Leonardo Ghiraldini and Andrea Lo Cicero at the weekend.

Castrogiovanni is one of six changes from the side comfortably beaten 24-3 by Wales last weekend at the Millennium Stadium.

Amongst those recalled by coach Jacques Brunel is scrum-half Edorado Gori who is available again having overcome a knee complaint.

Gori will partner Kristopher Burton in the half-backs, the fly-half retaining his place despite coming in for criticism for his performance in Cardiff.

Elsewhere in the back division, Giovambattista Venditti replaces Luke McLean on the right wing, while Tommaso Benvenuti will start at centre.

Up front, Simone Favaro drops to the bench with flanker Robert Barbieri taking his place, while Aironi lock Marco Bortolam comes in for Cornelius Van Zyl to earn his 93rd cap.

Australian-born lock Joshua Furno could make his Six Nations debut this weekend having been included in the squad - the 22-year-old made his Azzurri bow back in August.

Both teams head into the encounter winless and looking to avoid the 'woden spoon'. Italy have won six of their 18 encounters against Scotland, who have not emerged victorious in Rome since 2006.

Italy: A Masi (Aironi Rugby); G Venditti (Aironi Rugby), T Benvenuti (Benetton Treviso), G Canale (Clermont-Auvergne), Mirco Bergamasco (Racing-Metro Paris); K Burton (Benetton Treviso), E Gori (Benetton Treviso); A Lo Cicero (Racing Metro-Paris), L Ghiraldini (Benetton Treviso), M Castrogiovanni (Leicester Tigers), Q Geldenhuys (Aironi Rugby), M Bortolami (Aironi Rugby), A Zanni (Benetton Treviso), R Barbieri (Benetton Treviso), S Parisse (Stade Francais)

Replacements: T D'Apice (Aironi Rugby), L Cittadini (Benetton Treviso), J Furno (Aironi Rugby), S Favaro (Aironi Rugby), M Vosawai (Benetton Treviso), T Botes (Benetton Treviso), G Toniolatti (Aironi Rugby), M Rizzo (Benetton Treviso), A Sgarbi (Benetton Treviso)

Wales Hold Grand Slam Course

Wales were made to toil but stayed on course for a tilt  at a third Six Nations Grand Slam in eight years with a scratchy win over Italy in Cardiff.

The Azzurri defence held firm in the first half, the hosts restricted to three Leigh Halfpenny penalties.

Mirco Bergamasco landed one for Italy, but Jamie Roberts charged clear to score 10 minutes into the second half.

But Wales had to wait until three minutes from time before Alex Cuthbert grabbed a second try.

Their only other score was a Rhys Priestland penalty, while Halfpenny was in the sin-bin after a clumsy challenge on Italy captain Sergio Parisse in the air.

While Wales will turn their sights to completing a clean sweep against France, the Azzurri will aim to avoid another Wooden Spoon when they take on Scotland in Rome.

Wales : 15-Leigh Halfpenny, 14-Alex Cuthbert, 13-Jonathan Davies, 12-Jamie Roberts, 11-George North, 10-Rhys Priestland, 9-Mike Phillips-; 1-Gethin Jenkins (c) , 2-Matthew Rees, 3-Adam Jones, 4-Alun Wyn Jones, 5-Ian Evans, 6-Dan Lydiate, 7-Justin Tipuric, 8-Toby Faletau

Replacements: 16-Ken Owens (for Owens, 62), 17-Paul James, 18-Luke Charteris (for AW Jones, 62), 19-Ryan Jones (for Faletau, 66), 20-Rhys Webb (for Phillips, 71) 21-James Hook (for Halfpenny, 74), 22-Scott Williams (for Davies, 69)

Italy : 15-Andrea Masi, 14-Luke McLean, 13-Gonzalo Canale, 12-Alberto Sgarbi, 11-Mirco Bergamasco, 10-Kristopher Burton, 9 - Fabio Semenzato ; 1-Andrea Lo Cicero, 2-Leonardo Ghiraldini, 3-Lorenzo Cittadini, 4-Quintin Geldenhuys, 5-Cornelius van Zyl, 6-Alessandro Zanni, 7-Simone Favaro, 8-Sergio Parisse (c)

Replacements: 16-Tommaso D'Apice (for Ghiraldini, 54), 17-Fabio Staibano (for Cittadini, 51, Staibano for Lo Cicero, 72) 18-Marco Bortolami (for Van Zyl, 51), 19-Robert Barbieri (for Favaro, 63), 20-Tobias Botes (for Semenzato, 66), 21-Tommaso Benvenuti (for Canale, 66), 22-Giulio Toniolatti

Wales v Italy - Preview

The one word mentioned more than any other in the Wales camp this week must surely have been complacency.

The assumption from many observers is that they just have to turn up, put on their kit, bury the Italians under an avalanche of tries and then focus everything on next weekend's Six Nations finale against France, where they will have a tilt at what would be a remarkable third Grand Slam in eight years.

But Wales know what it's like to lose to Italy. To their embarrassment it has happened to them twice and Warren Gatland and his coaching staff will be taking no chances - and the team he has picked for Saturday's match certainly indicates this.

During the 2009 Six Nations, he made 10 changes for the trip to Rome ahead of a Championship decider with Ireland at the Millennium Stadium a week later.

Led by the indomitable Sergio Parisse the Italians dragged Wales from pillar to post before Gatland summoned the cavalry from the bench and they limped to a 20-15 victory.

They may have won but the damage had been done. They were left with a significantly inferior points difference to Ireland, meaning they were up against it before a ball was kicked. The Irish knew exactly what they had to do, kept them at arm's length and secured the Championship and a Grand Slam to boot.

This time, the big guns are all in place and Gatland will be targeting a huge win, just in case. And it is something they really should achieve given that in six previous Six Nations encounters against the Italians in Cardiff the Welsh average a whopping 39 points.

They shouldn't have any troubles swatting away an Azzurri side that have sparkled in bursts but have always looked resigned to their annual end of tournament wrestling match with Scotland for the Wooden Spoon.

As has been the case for seemingly every Six Nations they have the cornerstone of a team that could threaten the old order, as they showed by beating France last year, but yet again they have fallen well short.

Their continued failure to find successors to legendary half-backs Diego Dominguez and Alessandro Troncon means they have gone for Kris Burton again.

After a hapless display against England, Burton was dropped to the bench, but remarkably his successor Tobias Botes proved to be even worse against Ireland so Burton is back in possession of the number 10 shirt.

Since Dominguez retired in 2003 Italy have had over 30 different half-back combinations and until they solve this conundrum chances are they will find themselves in possession of the dreaded spoon.

At least the old warhorse Mirco Bergamasco is back and should prove to be a more reliable place-kicker.

However, it's unlikely he will be given a chance to replicate the 17 points he scored in that epic victory over the French last year. Damage limitation could be the name of the game.

Wales : 15-Leigh Halfpenny, 14-Alex Cuthbert, 13-Jonathan Davies, 12-Jamie Roberts, 11-George North, 10-Rhys Priestland, 9-Mike Phillips-; 1-Gethin Jenkins (c) , 2-Matthew Rees, 3-Adam Jones, 4-Alun Wyn Jones, 5-Ian Evans, 6-Dan Lydiate, 7-Justin Tipuric, 8-Toby Faletau

Replacements: 16-Ken Owens, 17-Paul James, 18-Luke Charteris, 19-Ryan Jones, 20-Rhys Webb, 21-James Hook, 22-Scott Williams

Italy : 15-Andrea Masi, 14-Luke McLean, 13-Gonzalo Canale, 12-Alberto Sgarbi, 11-Mirco Bergamasco, 10-Kristopher Burton, 9 - Fabio Semenzato ; 1-Andrea Lo Cicero, 2-Leonardo Ghiraldini, 3-Lorenzo Cittadini, 4-Quintin Geldenhuys, 5-Cornelius van Zyl, 6-Alessandro Zanni, 7-Simone Favaro, 8-Sergio Parisse (c)

Replacements: 16-Tommaso D'Apice, 17-Fabio Staibano, 18-Marco Bortolami, 19-Robert Barbieri, 20-Tobias Botes, 21-Tommaso Benvenuti, 22-Giulio Toniolatti

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee : George Clancy (IRE)

Touch judges : Peter Fitzgibbon (IRE) & Peter Allan (SCO)

TV : Geoff Hughes (ENG)

Parisse Faces the Impossible

Italy captain Sergio Parisse believes his side face an "impossible" mission against Grand Slam-chasing Wales.

Parisse says Italy were embarrasing at times in defeat by Ireland.

"We beat Wales in 2007 in Rome, but at this moment I can't say that we really can beat Wales because they are playing fantastic rugby," he told the BBC's Sport Wales programme on Friday.

"Going to Cardiff to the Millennium Stadium against this team is probably something impossible for us."

That leaves the Stade Francais number eight believing Italy's toughest task of the tournament lies ahead even if Wales' minds may already be drifting towards a possible Grand Slam clash against France a week later.

In the opening rounds Wales beat Ireland, Scotland and England to secure a Triple Crown while Italy came unstuck despite respectable battles against France and England before going down 42-10 in Dublin .

“Against Ireland we produced a good 40 minutes, but we were embarrassed in the second half”Sergio Parisse

Parisse, who led the Barbarians to victory against Wales in Cardiff in June 2011, added: "Every time we go on the field we go out to win because we believe that we have the possibility to do it.

"But for sure, we must play the perfect match. Everyone must do [play] his best match of this year to beat Wales.

"But for me, probably, without doubt it's [Wales] the best team at this moment in the competition."

"Probably the staff and unconsciously even the players are thinking more about the match against France because probably it's possible for them to... win the Grand Slam.

"But I think they respect us as a team and they know probably for sure we are not the best team in this competition.

"But if they don't take the match seriously, probably we can put them under pressure."

Italy also have a chance to redeem their defensive respect after the second-half drubbing in Dublin.

"Against Ireland we produced a good 40 minutes, but we were embarrassed in the second half," Parisse told Friday's Sport Wales programme.

"We have a big opportunity against probably the best attack of the Six Nations to improve our defence and we have worked a lot this week on it.

"We are a team that must play for the 80 minutes at a high level to have any possibility to beat teams at the end of a match.

"We are not the team who will score five or six tries.

"We are not the team who have 10 chances to score so when we have the possibility or three points or a penalty, or even score a try, we must take it."

Wales are unbeaten against Italy at the Millennium Stadium and only Gatland's men can now win a Grand Slam this year after Ireland ended France's 100% Six Nations record by holding them to a 17-17 draw in Paris.

Italy have beaten Wales in Rome, in 2003and 2007 , and also held the Welsh in Cardiff in 2006.

Warburton Out for Wales

Wales captain Sam Warburton has been ruled out of Saturday's RBS Six Nations game against Italy in Cardiff.

The open-side's knee injury means Justin Tipuric starts at seven, although centre Jamie Roberts does start despite his own knee problems.

Prop Gethin Jenkins captains Wales even though former skipper Matthew Rees returns to the side, replacing Ken Owens at hooker.

Lock Luke Charteris is named on the bench after returning from injury.

The 28-year-old had been sidelined with a long-term wrist injury since the end of the 2011 World Cup.

But Charteris returned to action for Newport Gwent Dragons on Saturday in their Pro12 24-14 defeat at home to Munster.

Centre Scott Williams, who scored the winning try against England last time out as Wales sealed the Triple Crown, is again among the replacements.

His Scarlets team-mate Owens also has to be content with a place on the bench thanks to the return of British and Irish Lion Rees after a calf injury, with Richard Hibbard the hooker to miss out completely.

Rees, who last played on 14 January for the Scarlets, packs down between Adam Jones and Jenkins to reform the Lions front-row that took on South Africa in 2009.

"Due to injuries to all three players at one time or another we have not been able to field this 2009 Lions front row too often," said Wales head coach Warren Gatland.

"So, although we are more than happy with the job Ken has done for us, we are giving Matthew the opportunity to make his contribution as the competition reaches its climax.

"We are back at the Millennium Stadium in front of our home fans and we need to refocus sharply, after our Triple Crown triumph at Twickenham, if we are to give ourselves the best chance of being in contention for the Championship going into that final weekend against France.

"Italy will be hoping to find us complacent and with one eye on the French game, but nothing less than victory on Saturday will be accepted by this Wales team or satisfy the nation behind us.

"All of that leaves the players themselves brimming with ruthless intent."

Utility back James Hook has recovered from his bout of chicken pox, playing in Perpignan's 22-17 defeat by Agen at the weekend, and is also held in reserve, meaning fly-half Stephen Jones drops out of the match 22 completely.

Victory at the Millennium Stadium against the Azzurri will keep Gatland's side on course for a third Grand Slam in eight years, with France the final hurdle to face in Cardiff on 17 March.

Wales are unbeaten against Italy at the Millennium Stadium and only Gatland's men can now win a Grand Slam this year after Ireland ended France's 100% Six Nations record by holding them to a 17-17 draw in Paris.

Italy have beaten Wales in Rome, in 2003 and 2007 , and also held the Welsh in Cardiff in 2006.

WALES: Leigh Halfpenny (Blues); Alex Cuthbert (Blues), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), Jamie Roberts (Blues), George North (Scarlets); Rhys Priestland (Scarlets), Michael Phillips (Bayonne); Gethin Jenkins (Blues, capt), Matthew Rees (Scarlets), Adam Jones (Ospreys), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Ian Evans (Ospreys), Dan Lydiate (Dragons), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Toby Faletau (Dragons).

REPLACEMENTS: Ken Owens (Scarlets), Paul James (Ospreys), Luke Charteris (Dragons), Ryan Jones (Ospreys), Lloyd Williams (Scarlets), James Hook (Perpignan), Scott Williams (Scarlets).

Ireland Keen for Italian Action

Nineteen long days with no opportunity to put that dramatic late defeat by Wales behind them, an infuriating competitive drought described as "far from ideal" by captain Paul O'Connell, and now the flood cometh: four matches in 22 days.

Ireland's Six Nations campaign is just one Test old but, after their first opening loss in eight seasons and the late postponement in frozen Paris, already it looks set to test the depth of resources and mental power within Declan Kidney's squad more than he will have expected at the outset.

And all this without injured talisman Brian O'Driscoll, the first Six Nations he's missed in more than a decade.

But the manager - who has retained the same XV for the France game after mulling changes - will hope that kicking their heels in frustration will see his players explode out of the traps like caged lions against Italy, against whom they have won all of their 12 Six Nations fixtures.

Predictably, Ireland are clear favourites to beat the perennial Wooden Spoon contenders, but the pressure is still on. Not only have Ireland never lost their two opening Six Nations games (the last time they suffered that ignominy was in the old days of the Five Nations, in 1998), they have not lost back-to-back Six Nations Tests since 2005 - and have not lost four on the bounce in Dublin since 1997.

Italy should provide a different set of challenges, although with their physical attributes - especially in the ruck, maul and scrum areas - rarely in question, they are looking to make their game more expansive.

Much is expected of Tobias Botes at fly-half. He replaces Kris Burton, who, with better kicking, would have secured a famous victory against England. Though France saw them off relatively easily on the opening weekend, the Azzurri, increasingly less predictable, should have beaten Stuart Lancaster's team - and will be fired up to make amends.

Ireland : 15-Kearney, 14-Bowe, 13-Earls, 12-D'Arcy, 11-Trimble, 10-Sexton, 9-Murray; 1-Healy, 2-Best, 3-Ross, 4-O'Callaghan, 5-O'Connell (c), 6-Ferris, 7-O'Brien, 8-Heaslip.

Replacements: 16-Cronin, 17-Court, 18-Ryan, 19-O'Mahony, 20-Reddan, 21-O'Gara, 22-McFadden.

Italy : 15-Masi, 14-Venditti, 13-Benvenuti, 12-Sgarbi, 11-McLean, 10-Botes, 9-Gori; 1-Rizzo, 2-Ghiraldini, 3-Cittadini, 4-Geldenhuys, 5-Bortolami, 6-Zanni, 7-Barbieri, 8-Parisse (c).

Replacements: 16-D'Apice, 17-Staibano, 18-Pavanello, 19-Favaro, 20-Semenzato, 21-Burton, 22-Canale.

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee : Craig Joubert (South Africa)

Touch judges : Nigel Owens (Wales), David Changleng (Scotland)

TV : Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)

Italy v England - Preview

"It's just one game, though, the start of a journey," said Stuart Lancaster last Saturday. "I hope it gives people something to cheer about again. It's not been much fun, English rugby, has it? It was time to build a new England."

The interim head coach was clearly a happy man after his side's scrappy and somewhat fortuitous win over Scotland. He said in the build-up that he would have taken a 'dirty 6-3 win' and while he may have been slightly out with the scoreline, he certainly got the dirty bit bang on.

“To win against England we have to play the perfect game and we cannot make too many mistakes, like we did against France last weekend”Italy prop Martin Castrogiovanni

It may not have been the prettiest, but the positives of the performance outweigh the negatives and they now travel to Rome, a city that, as the phrase goes, wasn't built in a day.

It's an analogy that sums up Lancaster England's side perfectly. Burying the horrors of the last six months will not happen overnight, but the manner of their gritty performance at Murrayfield gives them a platform to kick-start the rebuilding process.

They head to the Eternal City eternally grateful to a Scotland side who handed victory to them on a plate. England will require the same gladiatorial spirit they showed against Scotland as the Italians, if given similar try-scoring opportunities, will throw them to the lions.

If evidence of just how much the win meant to Lancaster was required, his hand proves it. Two stitches were required as a result of a punch of celebration delivered to the wall of the coaching box following Charlie Hodgson's charge-down try.

While the passion and pride he and his coaching staff have installed was clear to see at Murrayfield, the jury will remain out on the new-look England until the final whistle blows at the Stadio Olimpico.

The Italians are using the huge 82,000-seat stadium, the home of Roma and Lazio and a venue that hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics, four European Cup finals and the 1990 World Cup final, until the Stadio Flaminio complies with Six Nations requirements.

It is hoped that playing at such a high-profile and large stadia will help raise the profile of rugby in Italy, a fact captain Sergio Parisse acknowledges. "It is our job to give the young the desire to come out and play rugby," he said. "Seven out of 10 kids in this country play football, two basketball and only one rugby. We have a big responsibility."

They had their moments in their defeat by France, but the promises of new coach Jacques Brunel that they would show a more expansive brand of rugby were left unfulfilled. Playing at the Stade de France is not an easy place to start fizzing the ball about, but on home soil they will aim to give England's defence another tough afternoon.

They were blown away by Chris Ashton's record-breaking four-try blitz last season, but the scars of that defeat have healed, and they will sense that maybe they will never have a better chance of recording their first-ever victory over England.

TEAM LINE-UPS

Italy : 15-Andrea Masi, 14-Giovanbattista Venditti, 13-Tommaso Benvenuti, 12-Gonzalo Canale, 11-Luke McLean, 10-Kris Burton, 9-Edoardo Gori; 1-Andrea Lo Cicero, 2-Leonardo Ghiraldini, 3-Martin Castrogiovanni, 4-Quintin Geldenhuys, 5-Marco Bortolami, 6-Alessandro Zanni, 7-Robert Barbieri, 8-Sergio Parisse (capt)

Replacements: 16-Tommaso D'Apice, 17-Lorenzo Cittadini, 18-Antonio Pavanello, 19-Mauro Bergamasco, 20-Fabio Semenzato, 21-Tobias Botes, 22-Luca Morisi

England : 15-Ben Foden, 14-Chris Ashton, 13-Brad Barritt, 12-Owen Farrell, 11-David Strettle, 10-Charlie Hodgson, 9-Ben Youngs; 1-Alex Corbisiero, 2-Dan Cole, 3-Dylan Hartley, 4-Mouritz Botha, 5-Tom Palmer, 6-Tom Croft , 7-Chris Robshaw (capt), 8-Phil Dowson

Replacements: 16-Rob Webber, 17-Matt Stevens, 18-Geoff Parling, 19-Ben Morgan, 20-Lee Dickson, 21-Jordan Turner-Hall, 22-Mike Brown

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee : Jerome Garces (FRA)

Touch judges : Alain Rolland (IRE) & Neil Paterson (SCO)

TV : Tony Redmond (IRE)

Forecast

Wintry conditions continue in Rome during Saturday with temperatures struggling to get above freezing at 2 or 3 degrees at best! It should remain dry with a few bright spells but a light shower can't be completely ruled out.