JERRY FLANNERY BELIEVES Ireland possess more than enough in their squad to see off Italy at Lansdowne Road this afternoon.
Declan Kidney’s side go into their second match of this year’s Six Nations tournament, having narrowly lost out to Wales on the opening day before seeing the France fixture postponed minutes before kick-off.
Italy are facing their third defeat on the trot after going down to France and England but are vastly improved in the past two years and did record an historic victory over Les Bleus in 2011.
However, the Munster hooker, who is currently sidelined with a calf injury, is confident Ireland can exploit the space made by hard grafting in the early periods of the match and claim their first win of this campaign today.
“Although people have talked about how the Italians have come on and the strides they’ve made in the last 24 months, I still think that Ireland have a much stronger squad,” he said in an interview with Guinness Rugby Ireland.
The gameplan that Ireland play really takes on the Italians up front and that will break them down as the game goes on. We’ve got the players and the backline that can exploit the holes that come from hard work early on in the game.”
Today signals the beginning of hectic period for Ireland and four matches in 22 days are sure to take their toll on the squad. Flannery is well aware of the physical threat posed by Jacques Brunel’s team but added that the 36-6 World Cup win in October proves that Ireland have their tactics spot on.
“They’re a tough pack and are very physical in their play. The biggest thing I’ve noticed is the improvement in their back play, which has made them much more dangerous than the slightly one-dimensional team they were beforehand.
“But Ireland showed in New Zealand that their gameplan works against the Italians.”
Flanker Stephen Ferris, who will make his 32nd appearance in the green jersey today, has been urging his team-mates to be more clinical this week but paid tribute to their opponents and warned that an average performance won’t be good enough.
“They (Italy) are starting to become a quality team,” Ferris said.
They’re very experienced and if they can get front football and can get the crowd behind them, they’re a tough team to beat. On the flipside, we believe that our set-piece is as good if not better.
“We’ll need need to be on our game because if we’re not, they’re a surprise outfit and have had a few shocks with France and Scotland over the past couple of years.”
Watch the full interviews below:
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