THE champions are back...but not quite as we know them.

Joe Schmidt will lead his reigning gladiators into the Roman cauldron today but key lieutenants will be marked by their absence.

The Ireland head coach enjoyed a stunning first campaign across the fields of Europe last spring, guiding the country to just their second championship in 30 years. Yet as much as Schmidt's clinical attacking manoeuvres were lauded, there was no getting away from the fact that it was a triumph built on sustained defensive prowess.

Ireland conceded just 49 points last year, 20 of them in a chaotic winner-takes-all finale in Paris. In their first four games then, opponents scored an anaemic average of just over seven points against those in green. So much of that solidity came from an at times impassible central axis at 10-12-13.

This afternoon in Rome, none of the men who wore those numbers last year will be present. Jonathan Sexton is likely to return in time for next week but Gordon D'Arcy's Test career looks to be in its winding-down phase, while after fitting, but at times seemingly unending fanfare, the totemic Brian O'Driscoll has exited the arena for good.

The Leinster heart of the backline will be replaced today by men from Ulster and Connacht in the shape of Jared Payne and Robbie Henshaw while Munster's Ian Keatley, selected ahead of Ian Madigan, makes a championship debut at fly-half. There are reasons then for apprehension about how these new faces will settle into a championship that never allows for slow starts.

"Ian Keatley has matured," said Schmidt, who in the circumstances must thank his blessings to still have the peerless Paul O'Connell at the head of his team. "It's a difficult task, being a 10 at a high European, or Test level, because you've got to be controlling the game and making decisions on the fly. There is a degree of confidence, and competence, from gaining that experience and doing exactly that. It's a vote of confidence in Ian Keatley, he's finished games off well and that's given confidence he can do the same for us."

Keatley is 27, a man who has bided more then enough time for this chance. He is a more cautious, conservative option than Leinster's Madigan. It was a selection that surprised the hosts.

"We didn't expect probably to play against Keatley at number 10: we thought in our minds that it would be Madigan," said Italy skipper Sergio Parisse.

"In any case, they are two different kinds of player. We don't think too much about that: we must keep pressure on him, but not just only on him.

"Obviously with any team you want to put the number 10 under pressure. When you have an opportunity to play for your country in a match in the Six Nations, there is a big responsibility, big pressure. So it's for him to manage this pressure."

Italy: A Masi; L Sarto, M Campagnaro, L Morisi, L McLean; K Haimona, E Gori; M Aguero, L Ghiraldini, M Castrogiovanni; J Fumo, G Biagi; A Zanni, F Minto, S Parisse (capt).

Reps: A Manici, A de Marchi, D Chistolini, M Fuser, M Barbini, G Palazzani, T Allan, G Venditt

Ireland: R Kearney; T Bowe, J Payne, R Henshaw, S Zebo; I Keatley, C Murray; J McGrath, R Best, M Ross; D Toner, P O'Connell (capt); P O'Mahony, S O'Brien, J Murphy. Reps: S Cronin, J Cronin, M Moore, I Henderson, T O'Donnell, I Boss, I Madigan, F Jones.