How Bergamasco suffered 40 minutes of hell – and still lived to tell the tale
Italian’s switch to scrumhalf 10 years ago led to an excruciating display, writes Daniel Schofield
‘When I came back to the changing room I was very afraid because I felt I’d let people down’
Who has delivered the most heroic performance in the history of the Six Nations Championship? There are countless examples of players who have endured pain in the team cause far beyond the comprehension of most mortals or who have singlehandedly won matches through sheer bloodymindedness.
But let us define heroic in a slightly different way. Let us say it is setting aside your needs and your ego – and all players have egos – for the sake of the team. Let us say it is being prepared to throw yourself over the top even though certain ruin awaits. Using these terms of reference, Mauro Bergamasco’s infamous turn at scrum-half against England 10 years ago makes him the clear choice.
Before the start of the 2009 Six Nations, Italy head coach Nick Mallett came to Bergamasco with a proposal. With three scrum-halves out injured, Mallett asked Bergamasco, an outstanding openside flanker, whether he would be willing to fill the No9 shirt at Twickenham. Bergamasco, then 29, had played a couple of games on the wing earlier in his career and occasionally at centre as a schoolboy, but never at scrumhalf, arguably the most specialised position on the field after hooker. It was the equivalent of asking an airline baggage handler to take over as pilot.
Seven times, Bergamasco asked Mallett: “Are you sure?” Seven times he replied: “Yes, I’m sure.”
“One part of me was happy that the coach could ask me something like that,” Bergamasco told The
Daily Telegraph. “On the other side I was a bit worried. I thought, ‘What can I do playing at scrumhalf?’ After the proposal from the staff, I said, ‘Yes I can do it. If you believe I can do it then I will try.’ I did try.”
What unfolded was what Bergamasco calls “40 minutes of hell” at Twickenham. Things started badly at the first breakdown, where he attempted to clear the ruck rather than passing the ball, allowing England to hack downfield. It got worse. His passes either went sailing over fly-half Andrea Marcato’s head or bobbled along the floor. It quickly went from comical to painful viewing with three of his mistakes resulting in England tries. Like a man trapped in quicksand, the harder Bergamasco tried, the worse his situation got. His half-time substitution was an act of mercy.
“I can’t remember every minute,” Bergamasco said. “It is all blurred. I can’t remember any pass, I can’t remember any kick. The only thing I can remember was that when I came back to the changing room I was very afraid because I felt I had let people down. Nick Mallett asked me, ‘Do you want to move back to flanker?’ I said I didn’t feel I can play any position at this time.”
What is remarkable is that Bergamasco holds no bitterness towards Mallett for throwing him the worst hospital pass in Six Nations history. His only regrets are focused on his own performance and how he could have prepared better. The mistake, he says, was that he trained as a scrum-half rather than a flanker who could pass.
“Maybe thinking about it today I would have done things differently,” Bergamasco said. “At that time, I was a professional, experienced player but not experienced enough to play against England at Twickenham. If I proposed something like that to a player today I would leave the player with his abilities, not try to completely change their attitude in 20 days. I would ask the player to play in a different position but to play as he knows.
“The only disappointment for me was that I was unable to play as I wanted to do. If I was in the same situation and the coach asked me the same question again I would say the same answer. I would say yes. I have always wanted to support the team.”
After Italy’s 36-11 defeat, Mallett attempted to deflect the blame from Bergamasco. “I lost the bet and I accept responsibility,” the South African said. Yet it was Bergamasco who was the one wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses the following day when he boarded the flight home. He quickly reverted to openside flanker, where he largely remained for the rest of his career.
By the time he retired in 2015, Bergamasco had established himself as one of the finest flankers of his generation. He made 106 appearances for his country, won two Top 14 titles with Stade Francais and is one of just two men to have appeared at five World Cups, along with Samoa’s Brian Lima. Yet still the stigma of that one game lingers. If you Google his name, the second hit is “Mauro Bergamasco scrum-half nightmare”.
“I played 106 times for Italy, I played in five World Cups, I played at a high level in France for eight seasons,” Bergamasco said. “If people think about me and that game then that is not a problem.”
He repeatedly emphasises that, even with the benefit of hindsight, he would accept Mallett’s instructions because it is “what the team needed, not what I needed”. He even uses it as an example of how to deal with adversity in his new role as a performance coach. “It was a tough experience, but I knew I could come back from it,” Bergamasco said. “It has made me stronger.”
As Bergamasco proves, crushing failure can be every bit as heroic as glorious success.