Ireland enter the final weekend of the RBS 6 Nations knowing they must defeat Italy as heavily as possible if they are to give themselves a chance of snatching the title from France.

Coach Eddie O'Sullivan has stressed that victory in Rome is no foregone conclusion given the buoyant Azzurri will be gunning for an unprecedented third straight championship
triumph.

And while O'Driscoll maintains Italy's backline has obvious weaknesses, he knows Ireland must improve on their sloppy 19-18 win at Murrayfield if they are to be exploited.

'Alessandro Troncon has come back in at scrum-half and given Italy a certain stability,' said the Ireland skipper.

'He has the experience that perhaps Paul Griffin didn't have and knows how to boss games. Their two fly-halves have both played well in the Six Nations.

'But they're not without their frailties and there are opportunities for us to have a go at them.

'Their weaknesses are not just down the 10 channel or Troncon's lack of speed - there are other angles.

'But we must put our opportunities away if we're to make the most of them - which is what we didn't do against Scotland.'

He continued: 'First and foremost we want to win the game but we're facing a very tough Italian side who are playing with a lot of confidence.

'They have two wins on the bounce and they'll be looking to make it their most successful Six Nations campaign ever.

'We'll have a tough day at the office if we don't cut out the errors and indiscipline that haunted us against Scotland and even threatened to take the game away from us.

'We have to get back to what we do best and that's playing good, hard, running rugby.
'We probably need to be more direct against Italy because of their defensive system.'

Italy have been hit by the loss of Mauro Bergamasco - a try-scorer against Scotland and Wales - with the gifted openside suspended for punching Stephen Jones last Saturday.

ut Ireland are also without a key figure after Paul O'Connell was ruled out for a month with the fractured thumb sustained against Scotland, giving Mick O'Driscoll a chance in the starting line-up.