Stick or twist: Italian job poses selection headaches for Farrell 

Taken in isolation, a game against the Italians offers the best opportunity to hand Test-level experience to players outside the group of regular starters but with this fixture falling in the middle of the two fallow weeks, and a trip to Twickenham to face England following it on March 12, Farrell also recognises the need to keep his frontline players ticking over. 

Head coach Andy Farrell

Ireland and Italy will meet in Dublin this Sunday with both sides looking to rebound from Guinness Six Nations defeats but the similarities well and truly end there.

For Ireland boss Andy Farrell there is the dilemma of selection from a squad which yesterday welcomed back a fit-again James Lowe, and called up another exciting uncapped back in Jimmy O’Brien while there is also the need to get some game time into captain Johnny Sexton, who looks set to pass fit following the hamstring strain that kept him out of the round-two loss to France in Paris 10 days ago.