Best Six Nations rugby bets and expert advice for Ireland vs Italy
The second round of the Six Nations concludes with Sunday’s showdown between Ireland and Italy at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium, and the hosts will be looking to pick up where they left off in their impressive opening-round victory over France in Marseille.
The Men in Green were narrow underdogs against the tournament favourites but were soon on the front foot and even though they were up against 14 men for an hour following a yellow then a red card given to Paul Willemse, they had looked the better team from the outset and were never behind in the match.
Italy also impressed in their round-one encounter with England, going in at the break with a lead and taking a losing bonus point in a 27-24 defeat. But they were up against an England side with some new faces and unfamiliar combinations whereas Ireland have a more settled squad.
Coach Andy Farrell has made six changes to his line-up but his emphasis on structure means he is able to chop and change without too much loss of fluency.
Sunday's Six Nations tip
- Ireland -33.5 handicap v Italy @ 10/11
Ireland can build on strong start with convincing victory
One of the hallmarks of Ireland’s rise to Six Nations dominance has been the consistency and efficiency of their performances. England and France both fell below expected standards in round one while Wales and Scotland played out the most remarkable game of two halves, but only Ireland took the start of the tournament in their stride and nailed yet another top-class display.
Back at the Aviva Stadium for the first time in eight matches, Ireland look set to enjoy home comforts and feed off the passion of their fans in a fixture they have come to dominate.
Ireland are 33.5-point handicap favourites, but they have covered similar big handicaps in all of their last six home matches against the Azzurri in this tournament, winning all of them by a margin of more than 30 points. In the most recent head-to-head in Dublin, Ireland ran out 57-6 winners.
Italy have improved their attacking play considerably in recent years and put three tries on England for only the second time in a Six Nations match last week.
But England’s new-look backline was occasionally caught out in defence in that match and the Azzurri backs were able to find space out wide. They are less likely to be presented with the kind of opportunities they seized upon last week against an Ireland side who boasted the best defence in the last two tournaments, conceding six tries in last year’s Six Nations and just four the year before.
Home is where Ireland do their best work - they have covered the handicap a remarkable 21 times in their last 26 home Six Nations matches - and a 33.5-point line looks well within their compass on Sunday.
*all odds correct at time of writing
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