Ireland and Italy will be locking horns this weekend in the first match of the Bank of Ireland Nation Series, acting as a warm-up for the France Rugby World Cup in September.
Ireland have not tasted defeat to the Azzuri since the 2013 Six Nations, and most recently claimed a 34-20 victory in Rome back in February.
They are currently ranked first in the world and therefore appear firm favourites to win the upcoming showdown, with Italy tallying in 14th place.
Here’s everything you need to know about this weekend’s clash, such as all the latest team news and how you can tune in.
What time is Ireland v Italy kick-off?
Ireland v Italy kicks off at 8.00pm on Saturday, August 5, at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
What TV channel is Ireland v Italy on? What about live streaming?
Ireland v Italy will be broadcasted live exclusively on Amazon Prime Video, as is the case for every Six Nations team including Wales.
You can sign up for their service here, which costs £8.99 monthly. If you are not already a Prime customer, you are able to sign up for a 30-day free trial, which will cover you for all matches here, although you will be charged £8.99 per month if you do not cancel after the end of that period.
And, if you have a smart TV or a games console, all you need to do is download the Amazon Prime application and sign in with your details there.
If you do not have either, you can purchase an Amazon Prime Firestick, which plugs into your TV as a HDMI cable.
There, you will be able to sign up for Amazon’s monthly subscription.
What’s the Ireland v Italy team news?
Andy Farrell has afforded a significant window of opportunity for players in his side to stake their claim ahead of September.
As such, Jack Crowley will wear the number 10 jersey for only the second time for Ireland in the event of captain Johnny Sexton’s suspension, having earned just three caps to date.
He will be starting alongside halfback partner Craig Casey, who has made eight of his last ten appearances from the bench.
Flanker Jacob Stockdale has also been presented with the chance to show his worth once again, having not turned out for Ireland since the win over Japan all the way back in 2021.
Meanwhile, young second row Joe McCarthy is set to make his first Test start, with only one other appearance for the side thus far coming as a replacement against Australia.
The likes of Tom Stewart, Ciaran Frawley and Calvin Nash are all in line to make their debuts, too, and are among the replacements for Saturday’s match.
For Italy, Kieran Crowley has opted for alterations in his side as well, handing test debuts to English-born duo Dino Lamb and Paolo Odogwu amid nine changes of personnel from last weekend’s defeat against Scotland.
Odogwu, who will be deployed on the right wing, had trained with England without ever receiving a call-up, while Lamb will line up on the second row.
Ireland: 15. Jimmy O’Brien, 14. Keith Earls, 13. Robbie Henshaw, 12. Stuart McCloskey, 11. Jacob Stockdale, 10. Jack Crowley 9. Craig Casey, 8. Jack Conan, 7. Caelan Doris, 6. Ryan Baird, 5. Joe McCarthy, 4. Iain Henderson 3. Tom O’Toole, 2. Rob Herring 1. Dave Kilcoyne
Replacements: 16. Tom Stewart, 17. Cian Healey, 18. Tadhg Furlong, 19. Tadhg Beirne, 20. Cian Prendergast, 21. Cadlin Blade, 22. Ciaran Frawley, 23. Calvin Nash
Italy: 15. Tommaso Allan, 14. Paolo Odogwu, 13. Juan Ignacio Brex, 12. Tommaso Menoncello, 11. Montana Ioane, 10. Paolo Garbisi, 9. Stephen Varney, 8. Toa Halafihi, 7. Manuel Zuliani, 6. Sebastian Negri, 5. Federico Ruzza, 4. Dino Lamb, 3. Marco Riccioni, 2. Giacomo Nicotera, 1. Danilo Fischetti
Replacements: 16. Luca Bigi, 17. Paolo Buonfiglio, 18. Simone Ferrari, 19. Niccolo Cannone, 20. Michele Lamaro, 21. Lorenzo Cannone, 22. Alessandro Fusco, 23. Lorenzo Pani
