Rugby: Ireland team bus led by crazy police escort in Rome prior to Six Nation's clash against Italy

The Irish team was led through the streets of Rome by a crazy Police escort. Photo / Twitter

A near loss to Italy wasn't the only scare Ireland's Six Nations squad experienced yesterday morning (NZT) in Rome.

The Irish team had to first survive a frighful drive to the stadium when their bus was given a reckless police escort ahead of their clash at Stadio Olimpico.

In a video which has since gone viral on social media, the police car is seen frantically swerving in and out of lanes and blaring its sirens before driving into oncoming traffic.

Irish team bus in Rome #ITAvIRE pic.twitter.com/Hk8nCagGo1

— Karl Carpenter (@KarlCarpo) February 23, 2019

The clip even shows the officer and another passenger gesticulating at cars to move back and stop after trying to join the road held by the bus.

Fortunately, the team couldn't help but laugh at the crazy officer as one player is heard calling the driver a 'f****** lunatic'.

Chris Farrell of Ireland is tackled by Jimmy Tuivaiti and Abraham Steyn. Photo / Getty

Joe Schmidt, Ireland's New Zealand-born head coach, can be heard proclaiming "This is suicide!" as a single police car swerves through traffic to clear a path for the Irish team, soundtracked by a chorus of laughter from the players.

Ireland moved into third place in the Six Nations table, one point behind England and three behind Wales, after claiming a 26-16 win over Italy.

Italy had lost its previous 19 matches in the Six Nations — a championship record — and seemed to be heading for a 20th straight defeat as tries from Quinn Roux and Jacob Stockdale gave Ireland a 12-3 lead halfway through the first period.

But Italy pulled back with two tries of its own from Edoardo Padovani and Luca Morisi and two penalties from Tommaso Allan to go in at the break with a surprise 16-12 lead.

However, a Keith Earls try shortly after the restart settled Ireland's nerves and Conor Murray, who had added the extras, scored and converted another try to give Ireland the bonus point.