Opta Facts: Women’s Six Nations – Italy v Ireland

– Italy have won each of their last two Guinness Women’s Six Nations matches against Ireland after winning just one in 16 against them previously (L15)

– Two of Ireland’s three wins over Ireland have come at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in Parma (also in Dublin, 2024), where this fixture will take place

– Italy have won just two of their 11 Women’s Six Nations games since the start of the 2023 Championship (L9)

– Those two victories both came against Ireland, while two of the Italians’ last three defeats have come by margins of just seven points or fewer

– Italy have lost each of their last three Women’s Six Nations home encounters, but have lost four in a row at home just once since 2011 (2017-2018). They have not won their first home game in a campaign since 2014 (v Scotland)

– Ireland have won two of their last four Women’s Six Nations matches (L2) after losing seven in a row previously

– However, they will be aiming to avoid losing their opening two games in a campaign for the fourth year in a row, after not doing it in any of the previous 14 editions

– Ireland have won just one of their last 11 Women’s Six Nations away clashes (L10), and have lost each of their last seven by an average margin of 39 points, conceding 88 points in their most recent one (88-10 v England)

– Italy completed 202 tackles against England, the most by any team in round 1 of this year’s Championship, while they won 11 turnovers which was also a round-high

– Ireland retained possession from 98% of their attacking rucks in the opening round of the 2025 tournament, the highest rate of any team, with only England (2.72s) recording a fractionally quicker ruck speed (2.73s on average)

– Italy’s Alyssa D’Incá (13), Valeria Fedrighi (10), Francesca Sgorbini (9), and Aura Muzzo (9) hit more defensive rucks than any other players in the opening round last weekend

– Only England captain Zoe Aldcroft (34) hit more attacking rucks than Ireland’s Erin King (32). Six Nations debutant King tallied up the most lineout takes of any player in round 1 (11)

– Linda Djougang made three dominant tackles against France, the most by any player in round 1. The most-capped member of the Ireland squad also made the most dominant tackles of any player in the 2024 Championship (17)

– Ireland back rower Aoife Wafer was the only player to cross the try-line more than once during the opening round of the 2025 Championship (2), also making the most carries (17), the most metres-in-contact (47), and winning the joint-most turnovers (3) of any player