Italy v Ireland: Six Nations leaders have to watch Azzurri's 'genuine superstars'
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Full-back Ange Capuozzo has emerged as a star player for Italy
Six Nations: Italy v Ireland |
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Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome Date: Saturday, 25 February Kick-off: 14:15 GMT |
Coverage: Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, BBC Radio Ulster & BBC Sounds; text commentary & highlights on the BBC Sport website |
Wing Mack Hansen says Grand Slam-chasing Ireland need to be wary of ever-improving Italy on Saturday.
Italy have yet to win a match in the tournament but pushed France close before falling to defeat by England.
After some promising performances, Hansen feels "anyone would be kidding themselves" if they have seen a better Italy team than the current generation.
"They're not just good, solid Italian players but they're actually world-class players," said Hansen.
The Connacht wing pointed to the Azzurri's obvious improvement over the last year which included their shock home win over Australia in November.
"They got a great win in Wales and [then] Australia. They've been pretty unlucky against France, showed up in Twickenham against England which everyone knows isn't easy at all.
"They just look really sure of their identity at the moment, of how they want to play the game.
"They genuinely have some genuine superstars in their team now that are carrying it."
Ange Capuozzo has emerged as a star player for Italy with some explosive performances from full-back.
Hansen says Ireland need to "rough up" the 23-year-old to help prevent Italy's "super-quick whippets" causing a huge upset in Rome.
"He's an eyes-up player so I think if we can get our hands on him and rough him up a bit that would help us," Hansen added about Capuozzo.
"He's not the world's biggest player but he's so quick that we're probably going to have to hunt in threes to take care of him.
"But when it comes to it, we're going to have to focus on every player in that backline as well - they're all super-quick whippets.
"I've done a little bit of footage on him. He'll be dangerous but we're ready for him."
Ireland are chasing a first Grand Slam under Andy Farrell after defeating Wales and holders France in their opening two games.
The resurgent Azzurri ended a 36-match losing streak in the championship by defeating the Welsh in 2022 and backed up that shock result with their historic success over Australia.
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