Schmidt won’t take liberties with Italy

Do not mention the ‘R’ word in the Ireland camp this week. With a Six Nations championship at stake over the final two games of the campaign and plenty to prove in the wake of a Grand Slam-robbing defeat to England at Twickenham last time out, rotation is the last thing on anybody’s mind as Joe Schmidt’s squad prepares to greet Italy in Dublin on Saturday.

So while the injury toll may just be beginning to rise and doubts linger over the fitness of fly-half Johnny Sexton and Peter O’Mahony, any thoughts the head coach might mix things up voluntarily against the winless Italians at a sold-out Aviva Stadium were ruled out by the head coach’s assistant, John Plumtree, after yesterday’s training session at Carton House.

“It’s a short competition isn’t it,” Plumtree said. “We’ve got ourselves in a situation where we’re top of the table, albeit by points difference and we’ve got two really tough matches.