The defending back-to-back champions head to the Stadio Olimpico with now only faint hopes of claiming a historic third successive title after seeing their Grand Slam ambitions wrecked in an emphatic home defeat by France last weekend.
Ireland need to win big against Italy and then hope to get favours from Wales and Scotland against England and France respectively later in the day if they are to still go on and claim the championship once again.
The Azzurri, meanwhile, will be keen to avoid ending up with the wooden spoon as they head into the final round of fixtures sitting only a point above Wales in fifth, having suffered back-to-back heavy losses at the hands of France and England.
Interim Ireland coach Simon Easterby has made six changes including replacing Sam Prendergast with Jack Crowley at fly-half, while there are seven changes from Italy counterpart Gonzalo Quesada, who has dropped influential captain Michele Lamaro in a shock move with the latter’s run of 24 consecutive Six Nations starts now at an end.
How to watch Italy vs Ireland
TV channel: Today’s opening Super Saturday Six Nations fixture is being broadcast live in the UK on ITV1, with coverage starting at 1:30pm GMT ahead of a 2:15pm kick-off.
Live stream: A free live stream service is also available online via ITVX, which requires a registration.
Live blog: Follow the action as it happens with Standard Sport’s dedicated live match blog.
