Italian job will show how far Ireland have come under Andy Farrell

All roads lead to Rome for a Slam-chasing Irish side next week. 

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS: Defence coach Simon Easterby faces the media at the IRFU High Performance Centre on Thursday. Picture: INPHO/Morgan Treacy

Ireland’s Six Nations trip to Rome next week won’t just offer another opportunity to move Andy Farrell’s project further down the line. It will serve as a point of reference for how far they’ve already come.

Hands were being wrung the last time they made for Italy. Opening defeats away to Wales and at home to France – one framed by Peter O’Mahony’s early sending-off, the other by major injury absentees – had most of us worried in 2021.