Ireland will play Italy in a World Cup warm-up match on Saturday, but Andy Farrell's men will have to do so without their talismanic captain Johnny Sexton.

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Fly-half Sexton, who will retire after the World Cup, has not played since the Grand Slam-winning match against England in March because of injury, and he will not feature against Italy as he has received a suspension.

He has been banned for three matches for misconduct after his behaviour at the Champions Cup final, meaning he will not be able to play in any of Ireland's warm-up matches. Sexton's first match back will be Ireland's World Cup opener against Romania on 9th September.

In his stead, Iain Henderson will skipper the team with Jack Crowley at 10. The biggest bit of team news apart of Sexton is the return of winger Jacob Stockdale. He will play in his first international game since 2021 after an injury-laden few years.

Italy have already begun their warm-up preparations and have made 10 changes from their defeat to Scotland last weekend. Federico Ruzza is captain once again with Michele Lamaro on the bench and star back-rower Sebastian Negri is back in the pack.

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Tommaso Allan moves to full-back as Paolo Garbisi is back at fly-half and has regular half-back partner Stephen Varney alongside him. Montanna Ioane lines up once again on the wing, but on the other wing is Paolo Odogwu, who wins his first cap.

Odogwu was eligible to play for England but was never capped, and so concentrated his efforts into getting into the Italy team.

RadioTimes.com has rounded up everything you need to know about how to watch Ireland v Italy on TV and online.

When is Ireland v Italy?

Ireland v Italy will take place on Saturday 5th August 2022.

The game takes place at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

What time is kick-off?

Ireland v Italy will kick off at 8pm.

Check out all the Rugby World Cup warm-up matches coming up with our comprehensive guide.

What TV channel is Ireland v Italy on?

Ireland v Italy will not be shown live on terrestrial TV, but fear not! Almost every major Rugby World Cup warm-up match will live streamed on Amazon Prime Video.

Check out all the details below.

How to live stream Ireland v Italy online

Ireland v Italy will be shown live on Amazon Prime Video.

Every England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales match will be shown live online.

Sign up for an Amazon Prime Video free trial now and soak up some of the finest rugby players in the world.

If you do decide to sign up, Amazon offers a 30-day free trial, which also means you can watch hit shows such as Rooney and All or Nothing: Arsenal, as well as some Premier League matches.

Afterwards, a subscription costs £8.99 a month, which also offers free next day delivery on thousands of items, as well as the Amazon Prime Video library.

Ireland squad – team news

Jimmy O’Brien; Keith Earls, Robbie Henshaw, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; David Kilcoyne, Rob Herring, Tom O’Toole, Iain Henderson (capt), Joe McCarthy, Ryan Baird, Caelan Doris, Jack Conan

Replacements: Tom Stewart, Cian Healy, Tadhg Furlong, Tadhg Beirne, Cian Prendergast, Caolin Blade, Ciaran Frawley, Calvin Nash

Italy squad – team news

Tommaso Allan; Paolo Odogwu, Juan Ignacio Brex, Tommaso Menoncello, Montanna Ioane; Paolo Garbisi, Stephen Varney; Danilo Fuschetti, Giamarco Nicotera, Marco Riccioni, Dina Lamb, Federico Ruzza (capt), Sebastian Negri, Manuel Zulani

Replacements: Luca Bigi, Paolo Buonfiglio, Simone Ferrari, Niccolo Cannone, Michele Lamaro, Lorenzo Cannone, Alessandro Fusco, Lorenzo Pani

Rugby World Cup warm-up matches this week

Week 2

Saturday 5th August 2023

New Zealand v Australia (3:35am) Sky Sports Action / Main Event

Scotland v France (3:15pm) Amazon Prime Video

Wales v England (5:30pm) Amazon Prime Video

Ireland v Italy (8:00pm) Amazon Prime Video

Argentina v South Africa (8:10pm) Sky Sports Action

If you're looking for something else to watch, check out our TV Guide or Streaming Guide, or visit our Sport hub for all the latest news.

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