RUGBY WORLD CUP: Ireland v Italy, Pool C

02.10.2011

Venue: Otago Stadium, Dunedin

Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)

Preview
This is a last ditch effort by Italy to qualify for the quarter finals. Ireland is undefeated and should go through. But in a weekend with already one major upset (Tonga defeated France last night) already, Italy would need to put on a major display to defeat Ireland.

This could be a very close match. It depends on whether Ireland can play with the same heart and determination that they did against Australia. It won’t be quite the same.

Last Five Encounters
05.02.2011 Ireland 13-11 in Rome (6 Nations)
06.02.2010 Ireland 29-11 in Dublin (6 Nations)
15.02.2009 Ireland 38-9 in Rome (6 Nations)
02.02.2008 Ireland 16-11 in Dublin (6 Nations)
24.08.2007 Ireland 23-20 in Belfast (World Cup Warm up)

Italy This World Cup
11.09.2011 v Australia L 6-32 in Albany
20.09.2011 v Russia W 53-17 in Nelson
27.09.2011 v USA W 27-10 in Nelson

Ireland This World Cup
11.09.2011 v USA W 22-10 in New Plymouth
17.09.2011 v Australia W 15-6 in Auckland
25.09.2011 v Russia W 62-12 in Rotorua

GWC Rugby Rankings
World Table-Ireland 2nd, Italy 11th
Europe Table-Ireland 3rd, Italy 6th

IRB Ranking Points
Ireland 82.50, Italy 73.88

Prediction: Ireland by 7 points

Teams

 

Ireland
15 Robert Kearney, 14 Thomas Bowe, 13 Brian O'Driscoll,Capt. 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Conor Murray, 8 James Heaslip,
7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan,
3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements
16 Sean Cronin, 17 Thomas Court, 18 Donnacha Ryan, 19 Denis Leamy,
20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Jonathan Sexton, 22 Andrew Trimble.
Head Coach: Declan Kidney

Italy
15 Andrea Masi, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Luciano Orquera , 9 Fabio Semenzato,
8 Sergio Parisse,Capt. 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Cornelius van Zyl, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements
16 Fabio Ongaro, 17 Andrea lo Cicero, 18 Marco Bortolami, 19 Paul Derbyshire, 20 Edoardo Gori, 21 Riccardo Bocchino, 22 Luke McLean.
Head Coach: Nik Mallett