Italy vs Ireland Prediction & Betting Tips - Six Nations

Prediction published on 23/02/2023, 06:50  by Devesh Jaganath in Six Nations Prediction

After a week out, the Six Nations returns this weekend, and in the early kickoff in Round 3, we will see Italy take on Ireland at Stadio Olimpico on Saturday. The hosts have endured another difficult start in this tournament, losing both of their opening matches to date. However, in all fairness to the Italians, they have shown immense improvement from previous years and certainly have a bright future ahead. In their opening match, Italy put on an excellent display against the defending champions France but came up just short in the dying ends of the match, losing narrowly 29-24. Unfortunately, they were unable to keep up that form in their next match at Twickenham, losing 31-14 to the English, though they did score a couple of tries in that match, which would have given them something positive to carry into this one.

Ireland currently leads the Six Nations standings, equal on points with Scotland, though they have a marginally better points difference. The World’s number 1 ranked team has emerged as the outright favourites to lift the trophy at the end of this tournament after bringing an end to France’s excellent record over the last 18 months, beating them in their previous fixture 32-19 in Dublin. That win came after a record-breaking 34-10 win over Wales in their opening fixture. Ireland looks formidable this year, and they have an incredible record over this opposition. In last year’s encounter, Ireland handed out 10 tries and limited Italy to two penalties in the entire match to end on a scoreline of 57-6. While it may be a slightly better Italian side this time around, Ireland will be expecting another solid win as they prepare for potentially bigger matches against Scotland and England in the coming weeks.