[+[!LIVESTREAMs!]+] Ireland vs Italy LIVE Free Coverage ON TV Channel 11 Febraury 2024

Italy are next up for Ireland as the Six Nations favourites return to Dublin today. Ireland will take on Italy at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Sunday as the second round of matches in the 2024 Six Nations Championship comes to a close.

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The Men in Green made a superb start to the defence of their fourth Grand Slam title in Marseille on opening night, running in five tries in total in their biggest-ever away win in France to deliver an emphatic statement to bounce back from their painful World Cup quarter-final exit in the autumn.

The Ireland vs Italy live stream sees the hosts look to extend their remarkable record against the Azzurri in Dublin on Sunday and make it two wins from two games in the 2024 Six Nation

The Men in Green made a fantastic start to the defence of their fourth Grand Slam title in Marseille on opening night, scoring five tries in total in their biggest-ever away win in France to deliver an emphatic statement that they are back in full swing after their devastating World Cup quarter-final exit last year.

Andy Farrell’s side will be hugely confident of following up that ominous triumph with another win here back on home soil as they close out round two on Sunday, with Italy having beaten Ireland only once in this competition (11 years ago) and never in Dublin.

Ireland and Italy face each other on Sunday, February 11. The match kicks off at 3pm GMT.

The Azzurri endured a dismal World Cup in the autumn with humiliatingly heavy pool-stage defeats by both France and New Zealand, though made a promising start to their attempts to avoid a ninth successive Six Nations wooden spoon last weekend.

Starting another new cycle under the coaching tutelage of former Argentina fly-half Gonzalo Quesada, Italy began so brightly against England at the Stadio Olimpico with incisive tries from Alessandro Garbisi and Tommaso Allan either side of an Elliot Daly score, with the visitors finally asserting some much-needed control after the interval before Monty Ioane’s last-gasp effort ensured Italy’s smallest-ever losing margin against England – 27-24.

Ireland have made six changes for the visit of Italy, with No8 Caelan Doris handed the captaincy with Johnny Sexton’s successor Peter O’Mahony ruled out.

Ulster’s Stuart McCloskey replaces the absent Bundee Aki in midfield, while Craig Casey comes in for Jamison Gibson-Park at scrum-half.

In the pack, there is no Tadhg Furlong as Finlay Bealham starts at tighthead prop, while James Ryan replaces Tadhg Beirne in the second row and Ryan Baird and Jack Conan both come into the back row for O’Mahony and Josh van der Flier. Conan is at No8 with Doris switching to openside flanker.

There is still no Garry Ringrose due to injury, but Hugo Keenan and Calvin Nash retain their starting berths after knocks.

Andy Farrell believes talk of leading Ireland to successive Grand Slam titles is premature as he attempts to build on the “feelgood factor” created by a resounding Guinness Six Nations victory over France.

Reigning champions Ireland made a statement of intent in Friday evening’s curtain-raiser in Marseille with a stunning 38-17 bonus-point success over the pre-tournament favourites.

The fixture has proved to be a Six Nations championship decider in each of the past two years, with the Irish dethroning Les Bleus 12 months ago thanks to a 32-19 Dublin win, which avenged a 30-24 loss in Paris in 2022.

After securing a statement victory against France last weekend, there is a sense that Ireland can do what no side has ever done before: win back-to-back Grand Slams in the Six Nations.

Lock Joe McCarthy was particularly impressive on his Six Nations debut, while Jack Crowley was superb after stepping into the sizeable void left by Johnny Sexton. Now Ireland will hope to deliver another clinical display against a side who have lost all 12 of their previous encounters in Dublin, by an average margin of 29 points.

It certainly won’t be easy for the Azzurri who fell to a three-point loss against England in round one. It was a marked improvement after they conceded 22 tries in two pool games at the World Cup, but it is unlikely Italy will be able to end a run of six straight defeats in the tournament.

Italy are much-improved, as they showed against England, but their chances of a result in Dublin are slim-to-none.

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