Ireland take on Italy in the third round of the 2023 TikTok Women's Six Nations.
Both sides are yet to register a win so far in the tournament and will be looking to bounce back after heavy defeats to England and Frace.
Consistency continues to be a major issue for Italy who have been improving. They reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 2021, and in the opening round against France put up an impressive performance. Despite this, Italy are yet to find a win in the tournament.
It's a similar story for Ireland who have been struggling to find their footing in the championship, having lost their first two games to Wales and France. The upcoming match against Italy provides a key opportunity to get their first win of the tournament and build some momentum.
It was a similar scenario last year when Ireland registered their first win of the tournament against Italy in Cork. Five tries and a solid all-round performance pleased the Musgrave Park crowd but the test will be different this time around with a younger squad and the match taking place in Italy.
Previous Six Nations Meetings
2019:
Italy 29-27 Ireland
2020:
Irealnd 21 - 7 Italy
2021:
Ireland 25 - 5 Italy
2022:
Ireland 29 -8 Italy
Where You Can Watch the Match
The match will take place at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi and will be broadcasted live on Virgin Media Two at 16:45pm.
Teams
Greg McWilliams has made three changes to the Ireland side to face Italy in Parma as they continue to look for their first win of the Championship. All three changes come in the backline, with Lauren Delany, Anna McGann and Ailsa Hughes all starting behind an unchanged pack.
Delany will start at full-back, joining Aoife Doyle and Tash Behan in the back three, while McGann lines up inside Aoife Dalton in the midfield as she earns her first Test start. Hughes will feature for the first time in the TikTok Women’s Six Nations, starting at scrum-half alongside Leinster teammate Dannah O’Brien, who lines up at fly-half.
The forwards remain the same in both the starting XV and on the bench as the 53-3 defeat to France last time out, but there are three changes made to the bench in the backs. Molly Scuffil-McCabe, Vicky Irwin and Meabh Deely all drop from the starting XV to the bench.
For Italy, Sofia Stefan has been named as Italy captain in the absence of the injured Elisa Giordano as Giovanni Raineri made three changes to the Azzurre side to face Ireland. Stefan returns to scrum-half after starting on the wing against England in Round 2, and assumes captaincy, with Sara Barattin dropping back to the bench.
Beatrice Capomaggi is one of two changes to the back three, with Alyssa D’Inca also coming back into the side on the left wing, joining Aura Muzzo.
Giada Franco moves from openside flanker to No.8, with Francesca Sgorbini remaining at blindside flanker and Isabella Locatelli coming from the bench to start at openside. On the bench there are three further changes, with three debutants awaiting their first Test cap for the Azzurre.
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