The only change Eddie O'Sullivan has made to the side to face the Italians at Lansdowne Road has been to recall Geordan Murphy on the left wing in place of Tyrone Howe.

It's hard for Tyrone because he has played very well in the tournament so far but Geordan is one of the best players we have in Ireland and it's good to have him back.

We still have an outside chance of winning the championship. To keep that going we need a big victory against Italy, which is a pressure in itself.

It is important that we get the game won first, and then ultimately we need to score a lot of points if we're going to stay in with a chance of the championship.

I think the points difference will probably be too much, but if we beat Italy and go on to beat Scotland, we'll still win the Triple Crown which would be fantastic.

I said before the tournament that I thought Italy would win two matches. They've already beaten Scotland and maybe they'll have a chance against Wales but I don't think they can beat Ireland.

They're a big threat and very physical. Their front-row, as a unit, do a lot of damage and it'll be a fair old tussle.

But with Geordan and Brian O'Driscoll back I think we'll just have too much pace for them.

I think Ireland will win, but it will certainly be quite a battle.