Ireland’s gladiators expecting tough battle in Rome

THE Eternal City was at its picture postcard best in yesterday’s glorious sunshine and with more of the same expected for the weekend, conditions should be perfect for Ireland’s Six Nations opener against Italy in the Stadio Flaminio tomorrow.

The Irish party arrived in the late afternoon yesterday, with Reggie Corrigan rated by manager Brian O'Brien as "certain to play", unless he shows adverse affects to yesterday's pre-departure session at Terenure.

The 34-year-old loosehead prop has been bothered by a knee injury and the Irish management weren't prepared to take any chances Simon Best of Ulster travelled to provide cover on the bench should Marcus Horan be required to start.

The Irish have travelled in cautious expectation of starting the season with an away win but, as always, stress that there are no soft touches in the Six Nations.

Coach Eddie O'Sullivan and his players have been preaching the message all week and because we've heard all this kind of stuff before, the inclination is to pay less than urgent attention.

Nevertheless, the Italians have usually begun the Six Nations in impressive fashion as Scotland (twice) and Wales have discovered to their cost and embarrassment.

Furthermore, looking at the spine of their team, it could well be that this Azzurri combination is one of genuine strength.

Having patched up his row with coach John Kirwan, Alessandro Troncon is back at scrum-half and all set for another head-to-head battle with his old adversary Peter Stringer, whom he flattened in Rome four years ago.

Troncon is a very useful performer and will be expected to use all his experience to protect and guide new diminutive out-half Luciano Orquera through what promises to be a baptism of fire.

To that extent, Kirwan is also looking to his powerful props Castro Giovanni and Andrea Lo Cicero, talented second-row Marco Bortolami and back-row forwards Sergio Parisse at number 8 and the formidable Mauro Bergamasco on the openside flank to provide a clean service and as much protection as possible.

Whether the Italians possess the necessary all-round strength is another matter even if their midfield partnership of Andrea Masi and Gonzalo Canale is being touted as the best ever to wear the blue jersey.

No matter how much they have improved, however, you have to side with those who believe that if Ireland can't account for the Azzurri with a reasonable degree of comfort, then they shouldn't have any pretensions towards the Grand Slam.

"I'm cognisant of the talk about this Irish side having a great opportunity and I wouldn't disagree with that," said coach Eddie O'Sullivan.

However, he noted: "The one thing we have to do is not to get ahead of ourselves. It's boring and it's a cliché, but you have to jump the fence in front of you or you'll fall on your face.

"Then there's the new tackle law. Paddy O'Brien is a good, sensible referee but you have to be worried about this unexpected situation we find ourselves in. Let's hope our interpretation is the same as his."

Typical of his perfectionist attitude, O'Sullivan has examined every detail of the Italians' style of play.

"John Kirwan has worked very hard at putting extra dimensions into their game.

"There was a time if you were physical enough to contain Italy, you could probably beat them handily enough. But John, as one of the best wings to play rugby, has developed their game.

"They had a pretty good autumn. They gave the US a good tonking and had some good spells against the All Blacks. They're more mature, they're smarter, they have a lot of guys playing with Treviso, who acquitted themselves superbly in the Heineken Cup this year.

"They're no longer making up the numbers."

O'Sullivan closed with the warning that "nothing short of a solid performance" will be enough.

And that's what can reasonably be expect from arguably one of the best prepared Irish teams ever.

Still, it will be fascinating to see how the pack front up against serious operators like Lo Cicero, Bortolami, Parisse and Bergamasco, if only because it will reveal what lies ahead against the likes of big guns England and France.

Realistically speaking, anything other than an Irish victory, probably in the region of 10 to 20 points, will come as something of a surprise come Sunday.