Ireland v Italy Prediction, Preview & Odds – Six Nations

We have an Ireland v Italy prediction for you plus a breakdown of the betting odds, team news and matchups ahead of the second round of Six Nations fixtures.

How To Watch Ireland v Italy

When is Ireland v Italy

3.00 pm, Sunday, February 11th

TV Channel

In the UK this game will be shown on ITV 1.

Virgin Media One will broadcast the game to viewers in Ireland.

Who are the officiating team?

Referee: Pierre Brousset (FFR)

Assistant Referees: Mathieu Raynal (FFR), Luc Ramos (FFR)

TMO: Eric Gauzins (FFR)

Where is Ireland v Italy

This game will be played in the Aviva Stadium, Dublin as Ireland are the home team.

Ireland v Italy Odds

Ireland are 1/500 favourites to beat Italy per the latest Six Nations odds at BoyleSports.

Italy are 22/1 to cause a Six Nations shock by beating Ireland in Dublin. The draw is priced up at 22/1 according to the latest rugby odds at BoyleSports.

Handicap Betting

Ireland: -34 @ 10/11

Italy: +34 @ 10/11

Handicap Draw: -34 @ 18/1

Click Below For Our Live Ireland v Italy Odds

Team News

Ireland Team News

Due to there being a rest week after this weekend’s clash, there is unlikely to be much rotation on Sunday.

Ireland’s squad for this game will be announced on Friday and we will update here when it is announced.

Italy Team News

Sebastian Negri, the hard-carrying back row forward, suffered a “rib contusion” against England and will be unavailable to play in Dublin.

Italy’s squad for this game will be announced on Friday and we will update here once it is announced.

Ireland v Italy Weather Forecast

Perfect dry conditions for rugby are expected on Sunday, with no rain hours before kick-off.

Temperature

The temperature is predicted to be about 8°C throughout the game.

Wind

On Saturday there is expected to be a gentle to moderate breeze with wind speeds will be between 7 to 20 km/h.

Rain

On Saturday there is expected to be 0 mm of rainfall during the game.

Ireland v Italy Preview

Ireland’s Form

Form Coming into the 2024 Six Nations

Ireland opened their RWC campaign with a 27-10 victory against Argentina and while they were underwhelming at times, they quietly went about their business topping Pool D before defeating Fiji 30-24 in the Quarter-Final. They narrowly lost in the Semi-Final 15-16 to South Africa before beating Argentina again this time in the Bronze Final 23-26.

2024 Six Nations

Ireland opened their Six Nations title success last Friday Night with a brilliant 17-38 against France which saw them establish themselves as favourites for the competition alongside being favourites for the Grand Slam.

Italy’s Form

Form Coming Into The 2024 Six Nations

Italy came into this tournament following their Pool A elimination at the RWC, despite opening victories 52-8 against Namibia and 38-17 against Uruguay. They lost 97-17 against New Zealand and 60-7 against France to finish third.

2024 Six Nations

Italy put in a spirited performance (particularly in the first half) against England to earn a losing Bonus Point against England in their 24-27 defeat. Had it not been for a quiet period at the start of the second half, they potentially could have beaten England for the first time.

Ireland Attack v Italy Defence

Ireland put on a brilliant attacking display against the French scoring five tries through Gibson-Park, Beirne, Nash, Sheehan and Kelleher. Thus earning themselves a winning bonus point in their 17-38 victory.

Crowley also had some brilliant moments for Ireland and made 5/5 conversions with 1/2 penalties in a promising first game as Ireland’s newest starting 10.

Italy conceded 27 points against England, but notably, they were punished by their penalty count with Ford dispatching 5/5 penalties with Italy conceding only two tries. However, it is concerning that they conceded so many points against a widely viewed as a more blunt attack than Ireland

Italy Attack v Ireland Defence

Italy scored three tries against England, through Garbisi, Allan and Loane with their other scores coming with Allan making 2/2 conversions, Garbisi making 1 and Allan dispatching 1/2 penalties.

However, they’re due to come up against an even stronger defence against Ireland with the Irish conceding only two tries against free-flowing France in France!

Ireland v Italy Rugby Head-To-Head

All-Time Head-To-Head Record

Ireland and Italy have played each other in rugby union since New Year’s Eve 1988 when Ireland defeated Italy in a tour test match, 31–15.

Ireland have 32 victories and Italy have 4, no draw has ever taken place between the sides.

Head-To-Head Results Last Five Matches

2023: Ireland won 33-17 in Aviva Stadium
2023: Ireland won 20-34- in Stadio Olimpico Stadium
2022: Ireland won 57-6 in Aviva Stadium
2021: Ireland won 10-48 in Stadio Olimpico Stadium
2020: Ireland won 50-17 in Aviva Stadium

Trends

Ireland have won 14 of the last 15 matches against Italy with the Italians last winning in Rome 22-15 back in 2013.

Key Players

Joe McCarthy – Ireland

The Leinster Lock looks to be Ireland’s newest star, coming into this campaign with 5 Senior Caps for Ireland he was Man of the Match last Friday against France. McCarthy was effectively thrown into the deep end against the French pack and came up trumps laying down a market in everything he did.

The 22-year-old looks to have a massive future ahead of him with Ireland.

Alessandro Izekor – Italy

The Italian flanker has already been highly spoken about by Italian legend Sergio Parisse, the uncapped man has been described as a “colossus of a back row who stands 6’5″ tall and weighs well over 17 stones”, by Rugby Pass. The man who plays his club rugby with Benetton Treviso will be out to make a big name for himself against the English.

He came off the bench against England in their first game of the Six Nations, it’ll be interesting to see whether he is handed a start against Ireland.

Ireland v Italy Prediction & Best Bet

Prediction: Ireland 40-10 Italy

Ireland were nothing short of brilliant against France and that comprehensive victory has plenty tipping them for Grand Slam plaudits again in 2024 for the second successive year and Italy may just become cannon fodder for that charge.

Italy have shown themselves to be capable of “moments” in their opening game albeit against an English side in transition, they did come closer to success against the English than ever before and that shouldn’t be discounted.

Ireland should still win this game comfortably, but they will need to tread with caution to avoid complacency against an Italy outfit improving under Argentinian Gonzalo Quesada.

Best Bet: Ireland by 26 to 30 Points @ 6/1

Click Below For Our Live Ireland v Italy Odds