Bernard Jackman believes Italy will need to create chaos on the pitch if they're to cause a huge upset and end Ireland's Grand Slam hopes in Rome on Saturday (live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player).
The middle round of games at Stadio Olimpico sees Ireland put their 100% record on the line against Italy, following impressive bonus-point wins against Wales and France in the opening rounds.
Italy have started the championship with back-to-back defeats, although Kieran Crowley's side came close to causing a shock in their 29-24 defeat against France in Round 1, while they produced flashes of brilliance in a sloppy performance at Twickenham a week later, where they were beaten 31-14 by England.
While Ireland haven been the team to beat so far in the championship, their defence was exposed at times in their 32-19 win against France in Round 2 at the Aviva Stadium a fortnight ago, with Fabien Galthie's side looking their most threatening when the game became fractured through knock-ons or turnovers.
And Jackman says if he were coaching a side against Ireland, he would look to focus on taking Ireland away from their comfort zone of structured play.
"Make the game as unstructured as possible," Jackman told the RTÉ Rugby podcast.
"I'm not saying it's a weakness for Ireland, because from an attacking point of view they're very comfortable in that, but to try and test them from a defensive point of view.
"If you look at France, they scored from broken play for Penaud, and that's the type of possession they love, but they're very, very structured in terms of how they play, and it's just not as effective without Danty. In their kicking game, they're very structured, Wales as well under Gatland."
Italy have looked at their best during the Six Nations when they've been able to make the game fragmented, and Jackman adds that it will provide Andy Farrell's side with a good opportunity to test their defence ahead of their Round 4 trip to Murrayfield.
"This is probably the first team we've played, and we'll face this against Scotland as well, where you're playing against teams who are very, very good and dangerous in that broken-field play.
"[Kieran] Crowley needs to make that happen as much as possible, being loose, throwing offloads, being unorthodox in how they attack, play the blindside, play grubber and chip-kicks through, and break it up.
"If the game becomes very loose and very frantic, that's where they have a chance."
Ian Keatley, who played under current Italy head coach Kieran Crowley at Benetton between 2019 and 2021, added that he expects the Kiwi to try throw Ireland off their step early in the game.
"I wouldn't be surprised, knowing Kieran, that there will be a hit up the middle, then the 9 will have a little chip over the middle of the ruck, just to try and cause that bounce of a ball, and have the two wingers coming in and looking for the scraps.
"If they do score early on, it'll just get their mojo up and they'll be flying.
"If Ireland come out early on and blitz them in the first 20 minutes, it could be a long day for them."
The former Ireland out-half, who made his first Test start in this fixture in 2015, moved to Italy in 2019, spending two years at Benetton in Treviso.
And while Italy only broke their seven-year losing streak in the Six Nations in their defeat of Wales in 2022, he says the squad will genuinely believe they can beat Ireland, even if Andy Farrell's side haven't shown complacency.
"The Italians have this unbelievable confidence, when I was playing with them, that they can actually beat any team. They ran France close, but they would have gone into that match fully expecting they could win.
"They love big challenges, they love coming up against big teams because they know they might cause an upset.
"They're definitely a team on the rose, Kieran Crowley has done a really good job with them.
"We're expected to beat every team now, of course when we go to Italy we're expected to win. There's an air of confidence [around Ireland].
"I think the players are embracing the number one tag at the moment. Everyone is saying we'd prefer to be underdogs, but I think they're going into matches now, even the match against France, it was the only team they hadn't beaten, and it was like they grabbed it by the horns.
"They just keep setting targets for themselves," he added.
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Watch live coverage of Italy v Ireland (Saturday 2.15pm) on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow our live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app, or listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1.
Watch live coverage of France v Scotland (Sunday, 3pm) on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
