Azzurri shouldn’t stretch Irish

The Tactics

Ireland played their best rugby, albeit in defeat, against New Zealand in November when they followed Leinster’s blueprint for shifting the ball early and offloading before the tackle. This approach is tailor-made for playing against Italy and with key Leinster personnel at 10, 12 and 13, it should be encouraged again.

Likewise, the positioning of Luke Fitzgerald at full-back is geared towards counter-attacking off the expected flow of Italian kicks. When Italian out-half Kristopher Burton said yesterday that he brings “a solid kicking game”, you know what to expect.