World Cup preparations are underway in earnest with serial Webb Ellis Cup underperformers Ireland looking to continue their brilliant momentum when they take on an ever improving Italian outfit at the Aviva this Saturday.
Ireland v Italy
Saturday 5 August
Aviva Stadium
Ireland 1/150 | Draw 40/1 | Italy 11/1
The world number one seeds and reigning 6 Nations champions will likely give a second string side a run this weekend against the Italians.
The Irish had a terrific 6 Nations campaign topping the charts and winning all five of their fixtures. They are on a veyr hotstreak headed into the World Cup claiming a series win in New Zealand in 2022 and also beating South Africa, Australia and Fiji at the close of last year.
With the Irish still having warm up fixtures against England and Samoa to come, we’re likely to see them field a load of fringe players this weekend. This is especially good news for a number of fly-halves looking to put their hand up to be one of the banned Johnny Sexton’s understudies as they will now have three games to prove they can fill in for the veteran should it be necessary at the World Cup.
While Ireland beat all-in-sundry during the 6 Nations, Italy experienced contrasting fortunes as they lost all five of their fixtures. They did give some of the big guns a run for their money going down 24-29 to France and 17-29 to Wales. They also gave Scotland a real run at the European showpiece tournament going down by just 12 points to the Scots, a feat they repeated last weekend against the same opponents in their first Rugby World Cup warm-up fixture.
The handicaps in Europe have opened up in the mid-20s which I think is far too high considering Ireland haven’t kicked a ball in anger since the final round of the 6 Nations. With this in mind, I will be backing the Italians on any handicap in excess of 21 points.
Verdict: Ireland
