IS IT TIME O’SHEA CALLED IT A DAY?
Just how much is Conor O’Shea sacrificing for Italian rugby? The Azzurri have just six wins in 30 Tests and it will be years before his work pays off – for someone else
WHEN he was appointed Italy coach at the end of March 2016, Conor O’Shea was one of the betterknown figures in the European game.
His reputation was high, earned through years of success at Harlequins in England’s Premiership.
O’Shea’s recruitment was a major achievement for the Italian federation, and a four-year contract to run until the end of the 2020 season was agreed.
Given his status and the enthusiasm of his new employers, the remuneration, though not disclosed, will certainly have been handsome.
And yet given all that, Conor O’Shea’s work in Italy can appear at times like a charitable venture, or a mercy mission.
One of the brightest and most widely-admired young coaches in the northern hemisphere is devoting years to a project the benefits of which he will almost certainly not be around to enjoy.
If Italy do reach a level where they are winning regularly in the Six Nations and in Tests against tier-one teams, O’Shea will hardly be in charge, because Italy look years away from that standard.
They host Ireland on Sunday and it is almost four years to the day since their last win in the championship: against the Scots on February 28, 2015.
There is no sign of that record being challenged this weekend. Ireland’s two Six Nations matches against Italy under O’Shea have been routs: 60-13 in Rome in 2017, and a 56-19 win in Dublin a year ago.
Italy have played 30 Tests under O’Shea, winning six. Their wins were against the USA, Canada, Fiji, Japan, Georgia and, memorably, against the South Africans in November 2016.
They are 15th in the world at present, with the Fijians, Japan, Georgia, the US and Tonga all ranked ahead of them.
Optimism for the future is sourced in the work O’Shea is leading to build a basis for a consistently good senior side.
This involves improving the two Italian franchises in the Pro 14, and in raising the standard of coaching at all levels of the sport. Stephen Aboud, credited as one of the inspirations for the IRFU’s academy system, now leads the development of coaches within the Italian system and is effectively in charge of improving the flow of talent to the professional ranks.
Benetton are leading the climb in standards at Pro 14 level, even as Zebre continue to struggle. Benetton are third in their conference, ahead of Ulster, Scarlets and the Dragons.
The Italian Under 20s, meanwhile, beat Scotland in the first round of the championship earlier this month, and they finished in the top eight at the Junior World Cup in 2017. They had never previously finished higher than 11th.
THERE are plenty of tendrils of optimism in Italian rugby, but nothing robust enough to withstand the rigours of the Test game at the highest level.
That is why there was recurring talk up to the end of last year about Italy’s place in the Six Nations coming under threat, most obviously from Georgia.
When the countries met in a November Test in Florence, it was previewed by Italian sceptics as a referendum on their worth as a continuing Six Nations side. They won, 28-17. ‘Apologies for beating Georgia,’ said O’Shea, pointedly, at the launch of the Six Nations in January.
He understood that, had they lost, the calls for Georgia’s inclusion in the championship, either in an extended format or as their replacement, would have threatened to become overwhelming. Two unexceptional defeats from their first two matches of this year’s championship have seen Italy resume their usual lowly position, though, and they came against the echoing rumours surrounding O’Shea’s position.
The willingness of the Italian federation to change coaches in the search for a shortcut to higher standards lingers.
There were rumours at the start of the year that the well-regarded Racing 92 coaches, Laurent Travers and Laurent Labit, had been sized up as replacements for O’Shea. This was denied, and O’Shea sounded unflustered when asked about it
‘Do they want me to stay on? Yes,’ he said of his employers last month.
‘Would I expect them to be looking at alternatives? They say they’re not but I hope they are.
‘If they weren’t, they would be slammed for not looking at alternatives. In 10 years’ time I want to be having a beer sitting in the stadium with this guy (Sergio Parisse) watching an Italy team doing well, so that we can say we had a hand in its progress.’
That sounds sweet in the very long term. Meanwhile, in the short term, O’Shea faces nothing but more pain. Relief could come in their final match, against the awful French in Rome on March 16, but that would merely fit the pattern of occasional shocks amidst a vastness of defeat.
IN a number of interviews before Italy played Ireland last year, O’Shea was asked about coaching Ireland one day. This answer was typical. ‘It can only end badly,’ he said. ‘I never want to experience that feeling I had after Lens (when Ireland went out to Argentina at the 1999 World Cup) when I flew straight back to London and did not want to come home.’
Conor O’Shea as Ireland head coach isn’t convincing, given his current difficulties and the exacting standards introduced to the job by Schmidt.
However, O’Shea as a successor to David Nucifora is an interesting possibility. Nucifora, the IRFU performance director, is credited with implementing the structures that have helped Schmidt thrive.
He is central in discussing contracts and, latterly, in identifying where talent can be redeployed around the provinces.
A figure like O’Shea would command instant respect in such a role (one with which he was linked before Nucifora’s eventual appointment).
He remains dedicated to Italy, of course, but a World Cup pool awaits that includes New Zealand and South Africa. Not only will Italy not progress, but they could be vulnerable to Canada, too.
By then, O’Shea will have completed three seasons in the job. He can be confident his successors will enjoy the rewards of his work.
But he will be aware of the need to protect his own distinguished career, too, and there are only so many beatings a coach can oversee.