Farrell asks players 'not to overthink' against Italy

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has urged his players "not to overthink" against Italy in Saturday's Six Nations game at the Aviva Stadium [14:10 GMT].

Defeat by France in their opening fixture left many questions as to the trajectory of the current Irish crop, who were outplayed by the defending champions for long spells in Paris.

In the past, a home game against Italy may have been viewed as a perfect way to bounce back, but Gonzalo Quesada's side are a much different proposition now and come into this game off the back of an opening victory over Scotland in a rain-sodden Rome.

Farrell wants his side to find a way to "play good, quick, hard rugby" but accepts that won't be a straightforward task.

"It is the best Italian side coming to Dublin. As far as respect, you would be mad not to," Farrell said of the challenge ahead.

"We have all watched the games of what has happened of the last year, six months, and the job that everyone is doing in Italy is fantastic and the respect is right at the forefront.

"Honestly, it is about us having more respect for ourselves this week."

Farrell has made six changes from the team that lost to France for Saturday's first home game of the championships but insists "this is not rotation".

While Ireland have been hit by injuries to key players for this year's Six Nations, their absence has given the opportunity for others to stake a claim with Robert Baloucoune, Jeremy Loughman and Cormac Izuchukwu under the 10-cap mark but named to start on Saturday, while Munster's Edwin Edogbo is in line to make his debut off the bench.

"We just happen to have lost a lot of experience and people are coming in," Farrell added.

"We have a lot of new caps and certainly a lot of players under 10 caps particularly. They have to go through this and they have to go through Paris to learn, along with the players that we have not got that are injured and the players who we are giving this experience to down the track.

"You always have to go through a little bit of pain to get to that point in all generations."