"No Easy Matches" - Ireland back row Jack Conan ready for 'real challenge' against in-form Italy

However, this is by no means the case any longer. A historic win was achieved back in 2022, which turned the tide for the Italians. A dramatic 22-21 triumph over Wales set off the sands of time for Wayne Pivac's time in charge the national team, as Italy snapped a 36-match losing streak that dated all the way back to the 2017 Six Nations. Fast forward some four years, and Italy's comeback in Cardiff feels like the catalyst for the modern day Azzurri outfit, that is masterminded by head coach Gonzalo Quesada.

The former Argentina international now enters his third Six Nations at the Italian helm, having made a strong habit out of handing Wales an annual tournament defeat. Italy have since bagged a solid win over Australia, and took the Springboks to their limit in the Autumn Series before taking the Six Nations scalp of Scotland this past weekend. A struggling Ireland side is next up to face an in-form outfit currently ranked at ninth in the world.

Ireland number eight Jack Conan spoke in the week, on how the Italians have successfully changed their narrative. A Six Nations clash with the Azzurri is no longer the foregone victory it had once been, with a 'real test' expected by the Leinster back row as the two sides clash in Dublin this afternoon.

"That's great for us, because there's no easy fixtures in this competition. And you look at how they dealt with Scotland in really tricky conditions. So, their set piece has come on long way. Line-out defense, I think, has been really good. They went after Scotland really well in the air. Their scrum was fantastic.

"You know, they got a few penalties against South Africa in November, which is something that we didn't manage to do. So it's going to be proper test and a real challenge for us. I think it's important that lads aren't burdened by what happened last week [defeat against France] going into this week. You can be hurt because you care, but don't let the mistakes or an under performance affect how we rock into this weekend, into Saturday."

Plenty of question marks have been raised upon Ireland's recent string of underwhelming performances. Tough defeats to the All Blacks and Springboks, pillared either side of slow starts against Japan and Australia in the Autumn Series sees Ireland in a tough spot as we approach a Rugby World Cup year. This rolled into the round one defeat to France in the Six Nations what marked the first opening round defeat in five years for Ireland in the annual championship.

A potential explanation behind the sub-par performances, is that of a knock-on affect from the Lions tour. A majority contingency of Andy Farrell's touring side hailed from his international squad, with a total of 16 Ireland stars given the nod for a run in the famous red jersey across Australia this past Summer. Conan dismissed this idea, as the side prepare to bounce back for the clash with Italy.

"No, I think that's nonsense really, to be honest with you. I think that's probably people looking for an excuse or a headline or something like that. I don't have much to say on that, but I don't think that's true."

Looking ahead to the weekend, and Conan is hopeful that his side has learned from their undoing in Paris from last week. The Leinster stalwart is ambitious that the mistakes that marred the 36-14 defeat at the Stade de France will not rear their heads for today's offensive against the Azzurri.

"I think there's too many good players and good people in the squad and the building for it to be kind of a systemic thing. We've obviously a great opportunity to bounce back this weekend, but it's disappointing in the way that we performed and no matter what happens going forward, we'll look back and think we just weren't on it that day to the level that we have been pretty consistently over the last few years.

"It was probably a little bit the same last year when we played them in Dublin. Trying to get ourselves out of trouble quicker than we needed to, trying to solve problems in ones and twos instead of backing the system a little bit more like we should have. So that's a shortcoming of the players, not the coaches."