James Lowe is adjudged to have lost control of the ball as he stretched for the line with the ball in one hand.

Lowe in the corner is usually lethal.

Has he done it again?

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Ross Byrne lofts the ball into the sky and we are under way at Stadio Olimpico.

Roars of 'Italia Italia' roar around the Stadio Olimpico. We are about to get under way.

Here come the national anthems, James Ryan looks the definition of focused.

James Ryan says he is aware he has "big shoes to fill" as he stands in for Johnny Sexton as Ireland captain.

The 26-year-old deputises for Sexton, who has travelled with the team to Rome as he recovers from a groin injury.

"It's a huge honour, it's very cool," said the Leinster second row.

"It's a great moment for me and my family to captain my country this week. It still hasn't sunk in."

Ryan, who last skippered Ireland in last year's Six Nations loss to France in Paris, says he will "lean" on other members of Ireland's leadership group.

"We've got a good core group there that have been there for the last couple of years and have worked well together," added Ryan, who won his 50th cap against France earlier this month.

"His are big shoes to fill but he'll be travelling over with us at the weekend so it'll be great to have him around.”

Fly-half Ross Byrne has conceded there were times he thought he might never be part of an Ireland squad again.

The 27-year-old spent 20 months in international wilderness before an 11th-hour call-up led to him kicking the winning penalty in November's victory over Australia.

"There were times when I thought I'd maybe never get back in," said Byrne.

"You just have to be patient, which isn't always easy, and then when you do get the opportunity you have to try and make the most of it.

"It's a confidence booster getting back into the squad and then trying to get as much game time as possible.”

After impressing in cameo performances off the bench in Ireland's Six Nations wins over Wales and France, Byrne makes his first start at Test level since the Autumn Nations Cup defeat to England in November 2020.

He added: "When you are not in the squad and you see the squad doing so well you want to be a part of that.

"Everyone wants to be playing on the biggest days and you want to be part of a winning team. It gives you that little bit of edge, striving to get back into the squad.

"I'm loving being back [with the Ireland squad]. You can see how good the last two performances have been and there's a lot more room for growth too, which is hugely exciting."

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell, speaking to ITV Sport: "The half-backs need to do their jobs, they have prepared well. They know their role is to steer the team around the pitch and be nice and composed. Preparation has gone well.

"It is the strongest Italy side that we have come up against in recent times. They are in great form, so all credit to Kieran and his coaching team."

Matt Gault
BBC Sport NI at Stadio Olimpico

This is a huge opportunity for first-time Six Nations starters Ross Byrne and Craig Casey.

As a partnership, they're in stark contrast to the trusted Johnny Sexton-Conor Murray axis that has started 79 Tests.

But with Sexton not risked due to his groin injury and Murray on the bench, Farrell has decided the time is right to plunge Byrne and Casey into the stiffest examination of their Test-level credentials yet.

Byrne and Casey have been on different paths over the last couple of years.

While Casey has earned a stint in the No.9 jersey on the back of his excellent displays with Munster, Byrne - four years his senior at 27 - thought he may never be back in the green No.10.

If they pull it off, there will be a temptation to anoint them as Sexton and Murray's long-term successors.

They'll have a while to go before doing that, of course, but performing on this stage would be a big step in the right direction.

Image source, Inpho

BBC One

This is only the start of the rugby today with a gigantic weekend of Six Nations rugby ahead.

Following this game make sure and tune into BBC One from 16:00 to watch live coverage of Wales v England.

The game at the Principality Stadium goes ahead after the Wales squad decided against strike action following their contract dispute with the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU).

Sam Warburton, Martin Johnson and former Wales head coach Wayne Pivac are in the studio.

In 2011 Ireland suffered an almighty scare as Ronan O’Gara’s late drop kick salvaged a narrow 13-11 win.

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Two years later in 2013 Ireland came unstuck in Rome losing 22-15, Luciano Orquera was the hero on the famous day kicking 14 points.

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On route to a first Grand Slam since 1948 Ireland won comfortably 38-9 in 2009 with Brian O'Driscoll scoring an intercept try, running in untouched from his own half.

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Many regard 2015 as the most exciting end in Six Nations history with it all coming down to points difference between Ireland, England and Wales. A 26-3 victory in Rome was more than important.

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Fly-half Jack Crowley is one player which could make his Six Nations debut today.

Munster’s attack coach Mike Prendergast who joined the province in the summer from Racing 92 has witnessed the sudden but unsurprising rise of the 23-year-old.

"He is confident lad without being cocky. He is thorough in what he does and a real competitor. He is a real student of the game which is great," Prendergast told BBC Sport.

"I know a lot of 10’s genuinely are, but he looks at the game very deeply in terms of his own performance, the teams around him, and the people around him.

"He is just a really good pro who is willing to learn. He gives his point of view as well. Obviously as an attack coach it is probably the position that you build up relationships quite quickly. For example, in Paris I had it with Finn Russell.

"With Jack straight away I had that connection, and he was just really anxious to learn. He is a really quick learner and he has that ability to keep everything that is thrown at him. He is also very quick to point out where he needs to get better at as well which is a very important trait to have.

"He is the first to know that if he wants to be a leader in this team and drive the bus, he needs to have his game nailed down."

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One of the greatest games in Six Nations history?

The standard on show between the two top sides in the world was simply breathtaking.

Relive the highlights here between Ireland and France.

Holders Ireland maintained their 100% start to the Under-20 Six Nations campaign by beating a dogged Italy 44-27 in Treviso.

Tries from Brian Gleeson, Fintan Gunne and James McNabney helped the visitors to a 27-8 half-time lead, with Giovanni Quattrini crossing for the hosts.

Hugh Cooney and Rory Telfer scored tries for Ireland after the break, with man-of-the-match Sam Prendergast kicking 18 points in a faultless display.

The Italians grew stronger after the break and secured a bonus point through tries from Jacopo Botturi, Francois Mey and Nicholas Gasperini.

Ireland are currently on course for a second consecutive Grand Slam, having defeated Wales and France in their opening two games, with Scotland up next for Richie Murphy's side.

Read the full report here

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Pre Six Nations Ireland were questioned if they would miss injured starting trio Tadhg Furlong, Robbie Henshaw and Jamison Gibson-Park.

Well so far this Six Nations you wouldn’t know they have been away.

Today sees only the four 2021 British & Irish Lions come into the starting team in Ronan Kelleher, Iain Henderson, Jack Conan and Bundee Aki.

Talk about depth…

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Matt Gault
BBC Sport NI at Stadio Olimpico

After arriving in Rome yesterday morning, I hopped into a taxi driven by a wonderfully ebullient gentleman.

It was a welcome development in a day that started at an unspeakable hour with an early flight out of Dublin.

He spoke energetically about everything from Jose Mourinho to the five years he spent living in London in the late 1980s, from which he has retained an impressive command of English.

Having revealed his love for rugby, I asked him if he thought Italy had any chance of beating Ireland, and that's when he went a bit cold.

"No. No way. Ireland are too good."

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Enough said. Clearly a man who's watched Italy fall to Ireland more times than he cares to mention.

Whether his unequivocal dismissal of Italy's chances proves well-placed remains to be seen, but without question it is Ireland, not Italy, who carry all the pressure and expectation into today's match.

While Italy have shown flashes of promise in defeats by France and England, Ireland have lived up to their billing as the world's number one side.

Andy Farrell has shaken things up a bit today with six changes. But in Farrell's mind that shouldn't matter, and especially for a side holding serious Grand Slam and World Cup aspirations.

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell makes six changes to his starting team with James Ryan taking over as captain of the side.

Craig Casey will partner Ross Byrne in a new half-back pairing, with Johnny Sexton not risked after picking up a groin injury in the France game.

Centre Stuart McCloskey comes in as a late replacement for Garry Ringrose who has been ruled out by a calf injury and partners Bundee Aki with Jimmy O’Brien coming onto the bench.

Ulster captain Iain Henderson is also in for injured lock Tadhg Beirne.

Farrell makes two further changes to his pack with Ronan Kelleher and Jack Conan taking over from Rob Herring and Peter O'Mahony.

Italy: Capuozzo; Padovani, Brex, Menoncello, Bruno; Garbisi, Varney; Fischetti, Nicotera, Ferrari, Cannone, Ruzza, Negri, Lamaro (capt), Cannone.

Replacements: Bigi, Zani, Riccioni, Iachizzi, Pettinelli, Fusco, Morisi, Allan.

Ireland: Keenan; Hansen, Aki, McCloskey, Lowe; R Byrne, Casey; Porter, Kelleher, Bealham; Henderson, Ryan (capt); Doris, Van der Flier, Conan.

Replacements: D Sheehan, Kilcoyne, O'Toole, Baird, O'Mahony, Murray, Crowley, O’Brien.

After a week away the Six Nations is back with Grand Slam chasing Ireland in action against Italy.

The Italians have shown plenty of promise so far this campaign however face a mammoth task to overcome the world's number one side.

However they did run France close in Rome…

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