Rousing conclusion vital - O'Sullivan

Eddie O'Sullivan has demanded Ireland produce a rousing conclusion to the Six Nations so that they enter the World Cup in the best possible shape.

Ireland could complete the championship with a first title since 1985 or a morale-sapping defeat to Italy that would suggest they have regressed over the last year.

Victory at the Stadio Flaminio is no foregone conclusion given the buoyant Azzurri will be gunning for their third successive Celtic scalp and O'Sullivan's claim he is not taking the result for granted is genuine.

"We would rather have easy game than hard ones - that would make my life easier," said the Ireland coach. "But if we get things right in this situation then it stands us in good stead when the next big challenge comes down the track, and that's the World Cup.

"All of this feeds into the World Cup, but you have to get it right. If the Six Nations is a disaster then it's very hard to get over it for the World Cup.

"The advantage of the Six Nations going for the World Cup is that it's a tournament and in both you must replicate week after week what you want to do.

"Some days won't go as well as other days but you have to overcome that setback and still try and dig out a win, even if the odds are against you."

The odds remain in Ireland's favour tomorrow, despite Italy's improvement during this year's Six Nations, but O'Sullivan insists his side will be paying no attention to the margin of victory.

Should the final day unfold as expected, chief title rivals Ireland and France will be separated by points difference alone.

"Going for points would be a very dangerous headset to wear. The important thing is to go and win the game," said O'Sullivan.

"Some games take 80 minutes to win. If that's what it takes that's what it takes. If you go into the game with the notion of scoring points you'll end up in trouble.

"When the whistle goes, if you've won you look at the scoreboard and what you've won by. That's how you deal with it.

"Winning by as much as possible is fraught with difficulties. We're in with a chance of winning the championship but a certain amount of it is out of our control and we have to accept that.

"Look at the results to date - England beat Scotland heavily, we beat England by 30 points, we beat Scotland by one point, France beat us, England beat France. So where do you go now?

"I have too many things going on to start worrying about what will happen in the other games. You get your own job done and control what you can control.

"It's easy to trot out all sorts of possibilities of what might happen, but our job is to win the Test. It will be a dogfight, which is what this championship is all about."