Best believes Ireland are ready to scrap with gritty Italy
FOUR years ago, Ireland faced Italy in a do-or-die contest at the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin.
They trounced the Azzurri 36-6 to secure their place in the World Cup quarter-finals but the game will be remembered for a host of unsavoury incidents.
Italy coach Nick Mallett had lit the touchpaper earlier in the week when he said: ‘We’ve got a better front row than Ireland and we’re going to go in there to prove that.’
It set the tone for an edgy and gritty contest, with Italy hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini receiving a 15-week ban for eye-gouging Cian Healy.
Today, the Italians stand between Ireland and qualification for the knockout stages once more. Rory Best was on duty for the Irish that day and will anchor the scrum at the Olympic Stadium. Joe Schmidt’s side could very well be facing another slugfest but Best is cautious.
‘It’s something we haven’t talked about,’ he said about the 2011 encounter. ‘Obviously, there’s quite a few people that weren’t there in 2011. We know when we play the Italians that it’s going to be physical.
‘We play them in the league now at least four times a year, as well as the Six Nations games. So we know the Italians are going to be very physical. They’re going to come at us.
‘There’s a little bit of a fear factor but you’ve got to be realistic as well and say that, yes, as a pack we’ve done quite well in the first two games but this is not just up one step, it’s up three or four steps from what we’ve been up against so far.’
Best was on the receiving end of a punishing Sergio Parisse hit during the previous World Cup encounter, damaging his collarbone. And he barely made it back in time to face Wales for their ill-fated quarter-final.
‘The ball broke loose and Parisse smashed me and did a bit of damage,’ said Best.
The Azzurri have often been described as the most physical outfit in the Six Nations. It is a theory with which Best concurs.
‘Just in terms of scrum and maul, when you come off the pitch against them, you know you’ve been in a battle,’ he said. ‘When you set up a maul they hit probably harder than anyone else. They have probably a bit less regard for their own bodies whenever they are hitting.’
Under Schmidt, Ireland have become a well-oiled green machine that has secured back-to-back Six Nations titles.
Stories have emerged of Schmidt writing attacking plays on a whiteboard before telling the squad they had two hours to memorise them before they would be taken down.
‘That happens but now we’re sort of used to it,’ added Best.
Those are Schmidt’s standards Ireland must maintain today.