Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan is worried that back-to-back road trips could undermine his side's RBS 6 Nations campaign after just two games.

His Irish side got off to a flying start in Edinburgh last weekend, recording their first win at Murrayfield since 1985 with a 36-6 win over Scotland.

The victory, though, came at a cost and with another game in Rome tomorrow - just six days later - O'Sullivan said: ``We have a lot of tired bodies from last weekend.

``Even now the lads are still pretty beaten up and we've had another travel day, so it is a concern.''

The Irish team landed in Rome yesterday, the second plane journey of the week, and while the relatively short flight would not have had an impact, it is the time lost on the training field and on the treatment table that worries O'Sullivan.

``We're trying to keep guys as fresh as we can but it's a whole new world,'' he said. ``We've never done this before in the Six Nations and the travel dimension to it doesn't help us.

``I think the Italians are sitting there waiting for us with an extra day's recovery and no travel day in their week.

``Even the lads that haven't been training hard are feeling a bit heavy in the legs so there is a concern there is a little bit of fatigue there. But that's part of life now and we have to cut our cloth accordingly.''

Playing the physically-testing Italians is not the ideal choice for the Irish management, with O'Sullivan expecting a tough dogfight.

He added: ``I'm sure Wales (who lost 30-22 in their Six Nations opener last weekend) will be disappointed with their performance but you have to look at it in a broader sense and I think Wales played about as well as Italy allowed them to.

``It's a very different Italian team these days. They've retained their strength in the set-pieces that Brad Johnstone brought but now John Kirwan has added a few strings to their bow.

``They're a lot more structured in their attack, they've got a very big, physical midfield and an exceptionally strong back-row, to the extent that they can put one of the best number sevens (Mauro Bergamasco) in the northern hemisphere on the wing and still retain a very strong back-row combination.

``They are very good with the ball in hand and other aspects of their game have improved quite dramatically.

``Their last few games in the autumn and again last week showed that their defensive system is much more organised, they're very impressive in the tackle and their discipline has improved very dramatically.

``They're not giving away penalties which had cost them a lot in previous Six Nations and, by and large, I think it's fair to say Italy are one of the most improved teams in this Six Nations.''