Irish Rugby

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The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) has refused to comment on reports linking Ireland's interim coach Simon Easterby with a role as part of Andy Farrell's British and Irish Lions coaching ticket for this summer's tour of Australia.

A report in the Daily Telegraph, external said that Farrell, who is on a sabbatical from his Ireland head coach role as he plans for the Lions tour, was set to appoint Easterby to his coaching team.

Easterby has been expected to lead Ireland's summer tour of Georgia and Portugal.

When contacted about the report on Monday morning, an IRFU spokesman replied: "At this point, we have no comment to make".

Farrell is expected to confirm the composition of his Lions coaching team later this month.

Speaking before the Lions link emerged, Easterby said he was "committed" to Ireland and "pretty happy where I am" after rumours of succeeding Warren Gatland as Wales coach swirled earlier in the championship.

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Ireland full-back Hugo Keenan says the side want to make sure they have "no regrets" come the end of the Six Nations.

Simon Easterby's side finish their campaign against Italy in Rome on Saturday afternoon knowing that they need a victory and results elsewhere to go their way if they are to win the title for the third year in succession.

No longer in control of their own destiny after last weekend's loss to France in Dublin, Keenan is hoping Ireland can at least put the pressure on England and Les Bleus in the final day's later kick-offs.

"We're just looking after what we can control," said the 28-year-old.

"Likelihood isn't great [for a title win] but we want to know that we have no regrets, that we've done all we can and gotten the performance that we're chasing.

"Hopefully there'll be some nervous watching."

Wins over England, Scotland and Wales to start the campaign mean Ireland have already won the Triple Crown but Keenan believes they are a better side than they have shown across the whole campaign.

"There's been good performances, but consistently over the Six Nations we know there's a lot more in us," he added.

"Can we take not only the learnings from France but the other games and put it all together?

"It's exciting because [Italy is] a tough place to go."

Richard Petrie
BBC Sport NI Journalist

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Ireland forward James Ryan says his side's defence will need to improve considerably if they are to overcome Italy in their final Six Nations match in Rome on Saturday.

Ireland conceded five tries as they lost 42-27 to France at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin to leave their hopes of a third consecutive success in the competition hanging by a thread.

The Irish must beat Italy and hope that subsequent results go in their favour if they are to leapfrog table-toppers France and England into top spot in the championship standings.

Italy are looking to claim a second scalp of the campaign, having already defeated Wales.

"I think they [Italy] are a very good attacking side. Their attack has really evolved so our defence is going to have to hugely step up from where it was in the weekend," said Ryan.

"Counter-attack, kick chase, our connections, are huge. If you're not defending in twos or threes your defence can come under real pressure.

"There is obviously a lot going on regarding other permutations but it's about focusing on what we can control and getting our bits right, then let's see what happens."

'Finishing on a good note'

The second row went on to say that the message within the camp this week was about "turning the page" and producing the kind of display the squad know they are capable of.

"This will probably be the last week as a group together, some guys will go and other guys will move in going forward, so it's important we enjoy it, but you enjoy it when you put in performances.

"The message has been about delivering a proper performance on Saturday that would mean we finish the tournament on a good note.

"We know ourselves we were a little bit off on Saturday and they [France] were unbelievably good on the day and then the outcome looked after itself."

Ryan started the opening couple of games against England and Scotland but has been on the bench for the meetings with Italy and France.

"I suppose it's just about putting your best foot forward, trying to contribute to the team as much as you can.

"I mean there's huge depth in my position now and across a number of positions so it's great to have that depth in the squad and competition for places."

Andy Gray
BBC Sport NI Journalist

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Jamison Gibson-Park says he is "really lucky" to have learnt from legendary scrum-half Conor Murray, who will play his final game for Ireland on Saturday.

The 35-year-old will call time on his international career after Ireland's final game of the Six Nations in Rome.

Alongside Peter O'Mahony and Cian Healy, who will also retire from Test rugby after the tournament, Murray played his final Ireland game in Dublin in Saturday's defeat by France.

Gibson-Park said Murray, who has won five Six Nations titles, was "unbelievable and a great guy".

"He was one of the best in the world for the guts of 10 years," said Gibson-Park, who moved to Ireland from his native New Zealand to join Leinster in 2016.

"I used to watch on and when I first arrived in Ireland I was kind of amazed at how good he was really, he was unbelievably consistent and I suppose in many ways I felt at that time I was probably a little inconsistent.

"So I looked up to guys like him for sure, and then getting into camp with him, it's been awesome to rub shoulders with him. He's such a great guy and he's certainly helped my career."

Gibson-Park says Ireland will be motivated for Murray, O'Mahony and Healy to end their time in green on a high.

"I feel privileged to have played with all three of them," he said.

"It would be nice to finish off in a good way for the lads that are done, obviously it was their last game in the Aviva, but we have another game [on Saturday] to look forward to.

"That's the beauty about this competition, we still have a game to go and we can turn around hopefully, so I look forward to that."

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Back row Josh van der Flier says Ireland "have to get the misery out of the way" early in the build-up to Ireland's final Six Nations game with Italy.

Ireland have a slim shot at winning an unprecedented third Six Nations title in a row despite Saturday's heavy defeat by France.

France are in pole position to win the championship, but England and Ireland are still in contention if Les Bleus slip up against Scotland.

"It is difficult," said Leinster back row Van der Flier as he analysed where Saturday's defeat went wrong for Ireland.

"I think one of the things I find that's really important is you have to get all the misery out of the way on Monday or Tuesday, so it's not hanging over you for the rest of the week.

"Those things are hanging in the back of your mind and you can't let them drag into next week."

After the disappointment in Dublin against France, Van der Flier says Ireland have to "put in a performance to be proud of" against Italy.

"That will be the focus I think. We have to put in a performance to be proud of," said the 31-year-old.

"Obviously for the team, the pride of playing for the country, but also the opportunity of potentially winning the championship

"It's probably out of our hands, but we'll definitely be focusing on that."

Ireland are third in the table heading into the final round of fixtures. Simon Easterby's side are two points behind leaders France and a point behind England.

The game in Rome is the first of three fixtures on Saturday, before Wales host England and France take on Scotland in Paris.

Van der Flier says being the first match is an advantage as it allows Ireland to put pressure on England and France if they can secure a bonus-point victory in Rome.

"We'll try and ignore the other games as best you can but if we're the later game you normally watch the game earlier on.

"For sure it's nice to be able to get out early and put out a score to beat."

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Prop Tadhg Furlong is set to play his first Test since July when Ireland take on Italy in Rome in their last game of the 2025 Six Nations.

Simon Easterby's side still have an outside chance of securing the title despite their defeat against France but must win at the Stadio Olimpico and hope results later in the day go their way.

The tight-head prop has been recovering from hamstring and calf injuries that caused him to miss the first four games of the championship as well as Ireland's four Tests in the autumn.

He has not played any rugby since Leinster's Champions Cup win over La Rochelle on 12 January.

Interim head coach Easterby also expects to have Mack Hansen back after the Connacht wing missed the loss to France with a quad injury.

Centre Garry Ringrose is available for Rome after suspension while decisions on wing James Lowe and hooker Ronan Kelleher will be made later in the week.

Lowe was a late change from the line-up to face France as a result of a back injury in the warm-up while Kelleher has had a neck issue.

The game will be the final Ireland Tests for retiring trio Peter O'Mahony, Conor Murray and Cian Healy.