Ireland round off their 2025 Guinness Six Nations championship with a Super Saturday trip to Rome to face Italy.
It's not the finale that Simon Easterby's men had hoped for following last weekend's heavy loss at home to France.
The defending champions were second best after the first quarter and fell to a 42-27 defeat to Les Bleus, who need to beat Scotland in Paris (8pm) to claim the title.
Ireland have an outside chance but will need to beat Italy and hope that there's an upset in Paris, and also in Cardiff (4.45pm) where England will aim to put the pressure on Fabien Galthie's charges.
Here's all you need to know about the game.
TV
Italy v Ireland, and France v Scotland are live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player from 1.15pm and 7.30pm on Saturday. Highlights of all of the weekend's games are on Against the Head, Monday, 8pm.
ONLINE
Follow a live blog on RTE.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app followed by report, reaction and player ratings.
RADIO
Listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport.
WEATHER
Rome is set for light rain showers and a gentle breeze on Saturday afternoon. Temperatures are forecast to be around 18C.
Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Ireland's Grand Slam bid came to a juddering halt last weekend but they still have a job to do in Rome in order to force France to serve it out.
Indeed, England are next best placed to mop up should France slip up at home.
That late lapse when Ireland conceded two late tries in the opening-round win over England could come back to haunt Easterby's men.
There is also a scenario where Ireland can win the title with a four-point win against Italy but the clear target is to reach 19 points with a bonus-point victory.
That would be enough to retain their crown should both England and France fail to win, or if Les Bleus draw with Scotland without scoring four tries.
The points difference, in the event that teams are tied on points, weighs massively in France's favour. They are currently on 106, while England are on 20 and Ireland 13.
That will obviously change but the gap to France is so big as to be practically irrelevant.
But the truth is the title is firmly in French hands and even if Scotland did win in Paris as recently as 2021, the hosts look like men on a mission.
Wales will get up for the visit of England, similar to how they played above themselves against Ireland in round three, but Steve Borthwick's side might just have too much for them with a title on the line.
The best Ireland can do is pick up a 12th straight championship win over Italy and hope for the best.
Since losing in 2013, Ireland have beaten the Azzurri by an average of 34 points and scored an average of 6.5 tries per game.
This season the visitors have beaten England, Scotland and Wales, and lost to France, while Gonzalo Quesada's side beat Wales but lost to Scotland, France and England.
For all the talk of the importance of dominant tackles, Italy have made the most (66), while Ireland are bottom of that chart with 33.
Easterby has decided to freshen things up on the selection front with Jack Crowley coming in for this first start of the championship, while Tadhg Furlong is set to see his first action of the campaign off the bench. Mack Hansen, James Lowe, Garry Ringrose, James Ryan and Jack Conan are the other changes in the starting XV.
Italy have dropped captain Michele Lamaro, among seven changes from the 47-24 defeat to England.
The game is the 38th ever meeting of the teams with Ireland recording 33 wins and Italy four.
TEAMS
Italy: Tommaso Allan; Ange Capuozzo, Juan Ignacio Brex (capt), Tommaso Menoncello, Monty Ioane; Paolo Garbisi, Martin Page-Relo; Danilo Fischetti, Gianmarco Lucchesi, Simone Ferrari; Dino Lamb, Federico Ruzza; Sebastian Negri, Manuel Zuliani, Lorenzo Cannone.
Replacements: Giacomo Nicotera, Mirco Spagnolo, Giosue Zilocchi, Niccolo Cannone, Michele Lamaro, Ross Vintcent, Stephen Varney, Leonardo Marin.
Ireland: Hugo Keenan; Mack Hansen, Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw, James Lowe; Jack Crowley, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Finlay Bealham; James Ryan, Tadhg Beirne; Jack Conan, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (capt).
Replacements: Gus McCarthy, Jack Boyle, Tadhg Furlong, Joe McCarthy, Peter O'Mahony, Conor Murray, Sam Prendergast, Bundee Aki.
OFFICIALS
Referee: Luke Pearce (RFU)
Assistant Referee 1: Angus Gardner (RA)
Assistant Referee 2: Morné Ferreira (SARU)
TMO: Andrew Jackson (RFU)
FPRO: Tual Trainini (FFR)
WHAT THEY SAID
Simon Easterby (Ireland interim head coach): "We weren't good enough in lots of areas last week and I think the squad have a real internal motivation to perform and to play at their best when they play in an Irish jersey. We didn't match those expectations and the standards that would have been set across a good period of time."
Gonzalo Quesada (Italy head coach): "We have a new, important opportunity to take the field in the Six Nations in front of our fans. It is a long and demanding tournament from various points of view. Our task is also to evaluate these aspects and make choices [about selection]. The match develops over 80 minutes and the contribution of all the players will be fundamental."
LAST FIVE MEETINGS
Ireland 36-0 Italy - Aviva Stadium (11 February, 2024) Six Nations
Ireland 33-17 Italy - Aviva Stadium (5 August, 2023) World Cup warm-up
Italy 20-34 Ireland – Stadio Olimpico (25 February, 2023) Six Nations
Ireland 57-6 Italy – Aviva Stadium (27 February, 2022) Six Nations
Italy 10-48 Ireland – Stadio Olimpico (27 February, 2021) Six Nations
