Whipping boys Italy’s 10 worst Six Nations defeats
O’Shea’s side may need to follow Scotland and target overseas stars to be more than occasional wonders
Jones has kept faith with Ford despite suggestions Owen Farrell would start at fly-half and the Bath playmaker will be expected to tear a fragile Italy side to shreds ahead of tougher tests to come. Centre gets a start after two impressive cameos off the bench and his physical presence should cause Italy problems as he looks to give Jones a selection headache ahead of the Scotland game. Itoje was slightly quiet in Cardiff, in contrast to the second row pairing of Joe Launchbury and Courtney Lawes. May well pack down at lock again but will hope to show more around the park ahead of facing Scotland.
Ido not see any way in which Italy can win against England today. When Eddie Jones says he wants to give Italy a good hiding, I do not think he is being disrespectful – in fact, he is entirely correct in thinking his side should be winning this game handsomely.
England are extremely confident and they are clearly the second best side in the world at present. Italy, on the other hand, are coming off a huge loss to Ireland, They also lost to Tonga in the autumn.
They did beat South Africa in November but I think that had more to do with South Africa’s decline than Italy. I know Eddie sets targets for his players and a 30 to 40 point win is really the minimum for his team, anything less will be a disappointing result. I look at the competition this year and think all the teams have taken a step up while Italy have stayed still. The other teams are 10 to 20 per cent better whereas Italy are treading water and that can be very dangerous – particularly with bonus points now in play. They are a young and inexperienced side, although they have a very good coach in Conor O’Shea. He has talked about it taking two or three years for the likes of Michele Campagnaro and Edoardo Gori to really make their mark and he is right – you need to give them time.
In terms of the bigger picture, though, what really needs to change is that the sport must be embraced by more Italians. In a country with a population of almost 60 million people, just 20,000 play rugby – and that includes old crocks, women and children. The sport is mostly played in small towns up north that usually do not have a football side. Italy needs to make rugby an attractive proposition for a young Italian boy, because at present they just want to become footballers. I have seen first-hand the work the Italian RFU was doing but it requires a mindset change from the Italians themselves.
If they can recruit more players it would mean a better standard in the club competitions, which go on to feed Zebre and Treviso. That pathway is where the big issue is at present. Then they need more money and sponsors for those two teams, which would serve to keep Italian players in Italy and would also be the first step towards ensuring they finish at least halfway up the Pro12. If those two teams continue to come last and second last in their domestic leagues the door should be closed on relegation from the Six Nations, and at the moment Italy are playing at a standard far closer to Georgia than Scotland. I know it is a touchy subject but what do you say to Georgia, who win all the second-tier competitions and are desperate to play Italy – only for the Italians to say no because they are terrified they will get knocked over? One option is extending the tournament and including Georgia and possibly Romania. You have to give those teams a carrot, but also no one wants to cast Italy aside.
If that does not happen then it comes down to money. Italy provides a fantastic venue for rugby supporters and television viewers, and I am not sure Georgia can offer that quite yet. Italy will definitely give Conor time and I really hope they are more competitive next season – although, sadly, I cannot see them winning today.