Italy 27 USA 10

ITALY captain Sergio Parisse saw his side run in nine tries in yesterday’s win against Russia in Nelson — but has warned them that they must improve defensively.

LEE BYRNE has revealed he feared the selection axe for Wales’ successful Italian job after his yellow card calamity at Croke Park.

ITALY coach Nick Mallett has called uncapped Franco Sbaraglini to replace injured Fabio Ongaro for tomorrow’s Six Nations game against Scotland.

ON a cold day in Rome, Ireland turned the heat up on the RBS Six Nations title challengers and hit the top of the table on point difference from Wales, the reigning champions.

Ireland are unchanged for Italy at the Stadio Flaminio as they sought to generate further momentum for their RBS 6 Nations title bid.

SARACENS’ director of rugby Alan Gaffney admitted his players’ faces were as pink as their shirts after the 40-29 defeat to Wasps that kept Ian McGeechan’s men on track for the Premiership play-offs.

FRANCE captain Lionel Nallet preferred to dwell on his team’s victory over Italy rather than the prospect of registering a heavy win against Wales next weekend to retain the RBS 6 Nations Championship title.

SARACENS reached their first ever Heineken Cup quarter-final last night as they ended Glasgow’s remote chances.

Scotland 18 Italy 16

FULLBACK Federico Serra scored 19 points as Argentina beat Italy 24-6 in Mendoza on Saturday in their final home test before the World Cup.

ITALY captain Marco Bortolami has admitted he feared the Azzurri might throw away their chance to make history in the RBS 6 Nations Championship against Scotland.

A LOT has been made of Bernard Laporte’s insistence on experimentation for this year’s RBS 6 Nations Championship, but it will be interesting to see if France’s head coach sticks to his word following the comprehensive opening day rout of beleaguered Italy.

FRANCE coach Bernard Laporte has recalled hooker Dimitri Szarzewski to his 22-man squad to play England in the Six Nations tournament at the Stade de France on March 12.

Italy coach Pierre Berbizier has drafted Bourgoin lock Carlos Del Fava into his first 15 for this weekend’s Six Nations Championship clash with France in Paris.

IRELAND boss Eddie O’Sullivan declared “justice was done” after Denis Leamy was cleared of stamping on Italy scrum-half Paul Griffen, a decision that allows the Munster number eight to face France on Saturday.

Ireland’s Denis Leamy will line up against France in Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations Championship clash in Paris after being cleared of stamping on Italy scrum-half Paul Griffen.

Brian O’Driscoll fears Ireland could be victims of France’s desperation to atone for their Murrayfield debacle with pressure mounting on the RBS 6 Nations Championship favourites.

Ireland flanker Denis Leamy will find out tomorrow if he faces punishment following an alleged stamping incident during the RBS 6 Nations Championship victory over Italy at the weekend.

EDDIE O’SULLIVAN’S Six Nations preparations for Saturday’s daunting trip to Paris have been hit by a citing charge against back-row Denis Leamy — but Ireland will be skippered by Brian O’Driscoll after he escaped a similar charge in the wake of the victory over Italy.

IN a year when Italy has been devastated by injuries, new coach Pierre Berbizier has dropped a bombshell by excluding one of his most experienced players for tomorrow’s RBS Six Nations opener against Ireland in Dublin.

Italy coach Pierre Berbizier has dropped Andrea Lo Cicero in favour of Fabio Ongaro in his team for the RBS 6 Nations opener against Ireland.

Veteran scrum-half Alessandro Troncon has urged his Italy team-mates to put their mauling at the hands of France behind them and instead dedicate their time to closing the gap on the leading teams.

SCOTLAND forward Simon Taylor was pleased with his side’s opening RBS Six Nations victory - despite a disappointing overall performance.

Wales are facing another testing examination of their RBS 6 Nations title credentials today at the Stadio Flaminio, mindful of the humiliation that haunted their last trip to Rome.

Italy 17 Ireland 28

Italy’s disrupted build-up to their RBS 6 Nations opener against Ireland tomorrow has improved dramatically with John Kirwan’s preferred side given the all-clear to start the match.

Andrew Baldock

A doubt over the fitness of Paul Griffen means former captain Alessandro Troncon has been preferred at scrum-half for Italy’s opening RBS 6 Nations clash with Ireland in Rome on Sunday.

Fabio Ongaro has been named as Italy captain for the Test match against the USA on November 27.

Benetton Treviso 9, Leinster 25

Heineken Cup Pool 2

Veteran forward Carlo Checchinato is the principal doubt for Italy for their last RBS 6 Nations match with Wales at the Millennium Stadium.

EVER since France were unceremoniously dumped from the World Cup at the semi-final stage by England, one sensed that this Six Nations Championship offered a route to redemption.

Ireland 19 Italy 3

Ireland 12 Italy 0

Ireland: Dempsey, S. Horgan, D’arcy, O’Driscoll, Murphy, O’Gara, Stringer, Corrigan, Byrne, Hayes, O’Kelly, O’Callaghan, S. Easterby, Gleeson, Foley.

REGARDED by many as the minnows of the Six Nation’s championship, Italy arrive in Dublin today with designs on being the ultimate party poopers.

ITALY hooker Fabio Ongaro believes Ireland are the strongest team that the Azzurri will meet in the 2004 Six Nations campaign.

Scotland coach Matt Williams admitted he was “devastated” by today’s 20-14 RBS 6 Nations Championship defeat by Italy at the Stadio Flaminio – but still felt there were positives that could be taken from the match.

Italy 20 Scotland 14