Parisse first captained Italy back in 2008, also in Dublin, and his side enter Saturday’s clash desperate to claim the win that eluded them in their first two games of this year’s Championship.

A narrow 19-15 defeat to England in Rome last time out will take some getting over but Parisse is confident that his side are more than ready to claim revenge for 36-6 defeat to Ireland last autumn that knocked his men out of the World Cup.

“It is a great honour for me and a personal achievement,” he said.

“But to be honest I am totally concentrated on the match, we want to repeat the positive play that everyone saw in the first two matches of the Tournament and try and find greater consistency.

“It will be a very tough match and we want to play well”.

“Of course that match in the World Cup was a bad moment for us, but we are not thinking about it. We have an opportunity to truly test Ireland.

“I am very confident about all the work we have done this week. We have accepted the defeat against England and now we are totally focused.

“The defeat at the Stadio Olimpico belongs to the past. The next game will be quite different, another match.

“We want to play like we played in Paris against the French, keeping possession of the ball and we believe we have a good chance.”