Italy hope Diego will put the boot in

Ireland have been warned to cut out the penalty offences or expect the prolific Diego Dominguez to make them pay in Saturday's clash against Italy in Rome.

'He's worth probabl y 15 points a game through his boot alone,' said Ireland backs coach Eddie O'Sullivan.

'I watched him play for Stade Francais against Swansea recently and he dominated the game.

'It's another challenge for us. He's a guy who can really haunt you if your discipline lets you down and you give away penalties.

'When we played against him last year, we kept our discipline pretty well. He only had two or three shots at goal in the whole match.'

Argentina- born fly half Dominguez, now a naturalised Italian, is expected to shake off the groin injury which has prevented him training all week.

The 34-year-old - second only to Neil Jenkins on the Test points list with 819 - retired from international rugby last year after a difference of opinion with the Italian Federation over publicity rights, but said yesterday: 'I changed my mind and decided to come back for this tournament because Italy needed more experience to have a chance.

'Last year I was tired and fed up with international rugby. The younger players can improve with me in the team and that's why I decided to return.'

This is how the Italian team will line up for Saturday's Six Nations opener against Ireland in Rome.

ITALY: A Stoica; C Pilat, L Martin, G Raineri, D Dallan; D Dominguez, A Troncon; A Lo Cicero, A Moscardi (capt), A Muraro, W Visser, C Checchi-nato, C Caione, M Bergamasco, D Dal Maso.