Julius Caesar was warned beware the ‘Ides of March’. It is only February, but the omens aren’t looking too good for Joe Schmidt in Rome. The Irish Rugby team have travelled to the Eternal City on a mission to kick start their Six Nations campaign. Poised to play the role of ‘Brutus’, the friendly face aiming to land a killer blow, is Italy coach Conor O’Shea. While Joe’s captain, his ‘Marc Anthony’, Rory Best has been laid low with a stomach bug.
Ireland are on a mission to make amends for their first Six Nations defeat to Scotland since 2013, when an even worse loss to Italy followed. Cian Healy’s return to the front row means that nine of the players who started that dark day have been selected to line out this time around. If Rory Best fails to recover, Jamie Heaslip could be captain again.
Ireland say they have learnt from the mistakes of the past. It is hard to see how they could start a game as poor for the second week running and the bus is certain to be on time. The Irish base camp can’t have been the easiest of places to be in the last few days, so the players must be desperate to get back on the pitch.
Italy made things tough for a one dimensional Welsh team at the Stadio Olimpico last week. They were leading at the break, but fell apart in the second half, denying their opponents a winning bonus point by the closest of margins. Conor O’Shea could do little on the sidelines when certain players made schoolboy errors. The Kerryman has reacted by making 4 changes to his team. Glasgow Warriors flanker Simone Favaro is among those recalled, but it is still a side predominantly made up of players from the struggling Italian Pro 12 teams. The good news for Italy is that captain Sergio Parisse has been passed fit having shaken off a neck injury.
Ireland do have the Oracles on their side. The bookmakers predict they will win by 23 points and presumably pick up the bonus point. Ireland ran in nine tries against the Azzuri when the teams met in Dublin 11 months ago and they conceded just three points when they played at tomorrow's venue two years ago. A combination of the two would be an ideal way to get things back on track, and it shouldn't take too long to discover if the Murrayfield meltdown was a momentary set back or something more serious.
The omens could be proven wrong and fortune could decide to shine on Joe Schmidt once again, meaning Ireland would head into the upcoming battle with the Gauls on the back of a much needed triumph in Rome.
