Having lost their respective opening games of the 2017 Six Nations, both Italy and Ireland will be determined to get their first 'W' on the board when the two sides clash at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Saturday.
While Italy were beaten by a strong-finishing Wales in their opening encounter, Ireland just could not hold on against Scotland.
So, having suffered defeats in the opening round, both teams will know the importance of getting their Six Nations 2017 campaign on track by registering a win on Saturday.
Ireland will start as the favourites for this match, but if Italy play like they did in the opening half of their game against Wales, they might just be able to pull off an upset, especially with home advantage also in their favour.
"I'm not going to hide it, I'm still bitter about Sunday's game," Italy lock George Biaggi said. "We played perfectly for the first 40 minutes and went off knowing that we had the quality to finish what we had started.
"If we'd been able to score before the break, the game probably would have gone differently. It would have been harder for them to get back into it.
"In the first half Wales came up against a good defence and ran out of options. Then we paid for our indiscipline and they were good at using their talent and finding space."
Ireland will want to find spaces right from the off and Joe Schmidt's men will probably want to lock up the match by halftime. Inducing mistakes from the Italians will be the plan as Ireland look for their first win of the Six Nations tournament this season.
However, like Italy, Ireland will also be wary of taking their eye off the ball in the final moments. After producing a comeback against Scotland to jump into an unlikely lead, they let all that momentum slip in the final moments, with Greig Laidlaw's late penalties pushing them to a defeat.
"I think the solutions were evident after halftime, to come from 21-5 (down) to lead 22-21, the biggest disappointment was not the start, but it was the finish and the finishing – we had nine breaks," Schmidt said looking back at the narrow defeat to Scotland.
"I felt there were definite opportunities from set-pieces close to the line and from overlaps we created, and balls went out on the full – that for us is the unforgivable stuff."
When to Watch Live
Italy vs Wales is set to begin at 7.55pm IST (2.25pm GMT, 3.25pm CET).
Live Streaming and TV information
India: TV: D Sport. Live Streaming: Rugby Pass.
Ireland: TV: RTE.
Italy: TV: DMAX.
UK: TV: ITV. Live Streaming: ITV Hub.
France: TV: FR2.
Australia: TV: ESPN and Bein Sports. Live Streaming: Foxtel and Bein Sports Connect.
New Zealand: TV: Sky Sport 1. Live Streaming: Sky Go NZ.
South Africa: TV: SuperSport One. Live Streaming: SuperSport Live Video.
Middle East, USA and Canada: TV: Bein Sports and TV5 Monde. Live Streaming: Bein Sports Connect.
