2007 in review
The optimism generated by their best Six Nations performance last year had faded away by the end of the World Cup, their hopes of making the quarter-finals dashed by that disappointing 18-16 defeat by Scotland in St-Etienne. The coaching tenure of Pierre Berbizier thus came to a disappointing end.
Nevertheless, the Azzurri have progressed so far in the past few years that nobody takes them lightly in the Six Nations. So many of their players are now with top clubs in France and England that there is no shortage of big-match experience. They broke their duck away from home in spectacular style last year, scoring four tries in a 37-17 thrashing of Scotland at Murrayfield, perhaps their finest hour. They followed that with a 23-20 victory over Wales in the Stadio Flaminio; in the past five Championships, they now have two wins and a draw against Wales.
Their World Cup aspirations were boosted in their final warm-up match, an encouraging narrow defeat by Ireland, but once the tournament arrived, Italy failed to find any fluency in their unconvincing victories over Romania and Portugal. So they went into the crucial game against Scotland badly prepared and, despite scoring the only try through Alessandro Troncon, they were eventually punished for indiscipline by the unerring boot of Chris Paterson. Reducing that penalty count will be one of the key areas for Nick Mallett to address in his first Six Nations Championship as coach.
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Who is in and who is out?
There will be a new face at scrum half, as Troncon has retired and Paul Griffen was left out of the initial Six Nations squad. The contenders for the No 9 shirt are Simon Picone, 25, from Treviso, who has 11 caps, and Pietro Travagli, the 26-year-old from Overmach Parma, who has played twice for his country. The Saracens duo of Matias Aguero and Fabio Ongaro were both left out by Mallett, as was Roland De Marigny, the former Leeds full back. Ramiro Pez, the fly half at the World Cup, has lost his starting place for the first matches to Andrea Marcato, the Treviso No 10 who missed out on the World Cup.
The coach: Nick Mallett
Whenever a high-profile coaching vacancy has arisen in the past few years, the name of Mallett seemed to crop up. After his success as coach to Stade Français, whom he coached to the French championship in 2003 and 2004, he has remained hot property in Europe. Now, eight years after resigning as South Africa’s coach, he has opted to return to international rugby.
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Mallett, 51, was born in England and gained Blues in rugby and cricket from Oxford University. Always eager for a challenge, he has jumped at the chance to take Italian rugby to the next level.
Squad
Robert Barbieri, Treviso, flanker
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Mauro Bergamasco, Stade Français, flanker
Mirco Bergamasco, Stade Français, centre
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Marco Bortolami, Gloucester, lock
David Bortolussi, Montpellier, wing
Gonzalo Canale, Clermont Auvergne, centre
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Pablo Canavosio, Castres, centre
Martin Castrogiovanni, Leicester, prop
Denis Dallan, Overmach Parma, wing
Carlo Del Fava, Ulster, lock
Santiago Dellape, Biarritz, lock
Carlo Festuccia, Racing M?tro, hooker
Ezio Galon, Overmach Parma, full back
Leonardo Ghiraldini, Calvisano, hooker
Andrea Lo Cicero, Racing M?tro, prop
Andrea Marcato, Treviso, fly half
Andrea Masi, Biarritz, centre
Carlos Nieto, Gloucester, prop
Ludovico Nitoglia, Calvisano, wing
Sergio Parisse (capt), Stade Français, No 8
Enrico Patrizio, Petrarca, full back
Antonio Pavanello, Treviso, lock
Salvatore Perugini, Toulouse, prop
Ramiro Pez, Venezia, fly half
Simon Picone, Treviso, scrum half
Matteo Pratichetti, Calvisano, centre
Tommaso Reato, Rovigo, lock
Kaine Robertson, Viadana, wing
Alberto Sgarbi, Treviso, wing
Josh Sole, Viadana, flanker
Pietro Travagli, Overmach Parma, scrum half
Alessandro Zanni, Calvisano, No 8