Mark Doyle / 05 February 2010 Free Bet View Market

"Ireland are very well-placed to begin their bid for a second successive slam with a commanding victory."

On the face of it, this is the ideal opening game for Declan Kidney's troops: a meeting with a physically abrasive yet offensively limited side which should enable the reigning Grand Slam champions to ease themselves into the tournament.

Such talk does a great disservice to the Italians, of course. The Azzurri have never beaten Ireland in Six Nations competition - hence the odds of [40.0] on an away win - but they have often proven a difficult obstacle to overcome. Ireland only managed a 16-11 victory over the Italians at Croke Park two years ago. In that context, Ireland to win the game by less than 12.5 points at [4.1] is enticing.

However, the Ireland of 2008 is a very different animal to the Ireland of today. When Italy last visited Dublin Ireland were utterly devoid of confidence and self-belief after a disastrous World Cup campaign the preceding September.

Two years on, though, Ireland are a side transformed. On the back of an undefeated run which stretches back to November, 2008, they are now widely regarded as the outstanding team in the northern hemisphere.

By contrast, Italy appear to have regressed in the intervening period and they arrive in low on morale after managing just one victory in 2009, against Samoa in their final autumnal fixture. Worse still for the Italians, they must lock down on Saturday without their talismanic captain, Sergio Parisse, who will miss the entire tournament through injury. Italy boss Nick Mallett believes his side can cope with the loss of arguably the finest back row in the game today - but one doubts if even his own players believe that.

Admittedly, the Italian pack remains a formidable unit in spite of Parisse's absence and they will fancy their chances of destabilising the notoriously vulnerable Irish scrum.

However, even if the Italians manage to dominate the set-piece and secure themselves some quality ball, will they be able to do anything with it? The Italians are still searching for some quality half-backs and it is impossible to shake the feeling that the sterling efforts of their forwards will again go unrewarded during this year's Championship because of their impotency behind the scrum.

Ireland, by contrast, have a back-line which is overflowing with attacking talent, as evidenced by the ease with which Kidney has dealt with the loss of two first-choice players.

When Jonathan Sexton succumbed to a dead leg earlier this week, the two-time Heineken Cup-winning coach was able to turn to Ronan O'Gara, who, no doubt irked by being dropped for the win over South Africa last time out, has rediscovered his very best form of late and was pushing for a recall anyway.

Luke Fitzgerald's place on the left wing, meanwhile, could have been filled by Keith Earls or Shane Horgan but Kidney has gone with another in-form player, Andrew Trimble, who is decent value to mark his return to the side with the first try, at 10. That being said, two of Ireland's dynamic back-rows, Jamie Heaslip and David Wallace, probably represent the best value to notch first, at 17 and 19 respectively.

Of course, the principal talking point of the Irish team selection is the inclusion of Kevin McLaughlin alongside Heaslip and Wallace. The young Leinster flanker has been charged with the rather onerous task of filling the void left by Stephen Ferris on the blindside. Still, the Leinster man should prove an adequate deputy, while his provincial colleague Leo Cullen is even more suited to filling the void left by another injury victim, Donncha O'Callaghan, in the second row.

All things considered, Ireland are very well-placed to begin their bid for a second successive slam with a commanding victory.

Recommended Bets:

H'cap/Points Double: Ireland -20.5pts/Over43.5pts@3.2