Six Nations: The mood on Italy has changed – they now look like a genuine threat

Words of caution from Stuart Lancaster this week won’t have fallen on deaf ears in Dublin or Rome. Any creeping notion that Ireland’s visit to Italy next week is a processional event will have died on Andy Farrell’s vine after last year’s historic Italian wins over Wales and Australia.

Perhaps for the first time since entering the Six Nations in 2000 the Italians are viewed as a genuine threat. And it’s not just the wishful thinking of those who yearn for a genuine broadening the Six Nations base.

Italy gave France a fright in their first match and led in the second half before replacement Matthieu Jalibert became the point of difference for the French with a late try in the 29-24 win.

Afterwards coach Fabien Galthié appeared contradictory in his post-match humour saying he was both pleased with the bonus-point result, but that it left a “bitter taste”.

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In general play France let their performance levels slip and butchered two try-scoring chances that would have put them out of sight and shaken any Italian thoughts of winning the match.

They could have gone ahead within two minutes, fullback Thomas Ramos pouncing on a loose ball in his own half and sprinting away down the right. Juan Ignacio Brex closed him down out wide but Ramos passed inside to Damian Penaud, last year’s top try scorer, who uncharacteristically knocked on when France had space, numbers and the try line begging.

Shortly after, Cyril Baille knocked on as France continued to threaten before the visitors thought they had their second try of the match. Instead, Charles Ollivon allowed the ball slip forwards from his grasp as he was touching down.

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Italy then met England, who also won in Twickenham last weekend. Again, it was the Italians who made the point of asking questions of England in the second half.

In the end Italy dominated scoring and outpointed Steve Borthwick’s struggling side 14-12 over the last 40 minutes, tighthead prop Marco Riccioni and replacement scrumhalf Alessandro Fusco scoring a try each with Tomaso Allan converting both.

It prompted praise from Danny Care, the former England scrumhalf, on BBC.

“Fair play to Italy they stuck on in there,” said Care. “I think they will beat someone in this tournament if everything comes together.”

Italy were unable to land a glove on Eddie Jones’s England team last year, the visitors winning 33-0 in the Stadio Olimpico.

The message to Ireland, if it is not always the message at international level, is that a strong start against Italy in Rome would make their Saturday shift a lot less onerous and less fretful.

If Italy do rattle Ireland’s cage and stay in touch, a few Irish names may well be responsible. It was former Irish fullback Conor O’Shea who brought Stephen Aboud over to Italy in 2016.

Aboud was the IRFU’s long-term head of technical direction and with O’Shea, ran Italian rugby for several years before O’Shea took a job as the Rugby Football Union’s director of performance.

O’Shea departed in 2019 but Aboud, who was head of technical direction for the development of players and coaches with the Federazione Italian Rugby (FIR), left just last summer.

In Ireland, Aboud was responsible for setting up the initial IRFU foundation in 1993, which was the forerunner of the academy that was subsequently regionalised to the provinces. For over 25 years Aboud had been at the heart of coach education and framing the player pathways in Irish rugby.

From his base in Parma, that’s what Aboud brought to Italy, a country that does not play rugby at school’s level, but relies on development through the academies.

There are 16 players in the current Italian squad 25 years old or younger, including Welsh-born scrumhalf, 21-year-old Stephen Varney, and 24-year-old captain Michele Lamaro.

“We have just got to keep on working under extreme pressure,” said Italy coach Kieran Crowley after the match against England. “We obviously have to have a good look at the scrum. We were the least penalised team in the Six Nations [Italy had the lowest penalty count of any of the established nations in the Autumn Nations Series] and suddenly there’s a whole lot of things wrong with us.

“Look we are still a work in progress. You don’t want to say it, but we lost our captain [Lamaro] pretty early today ... you’re building a bit of depth so it’s a work in progress.”

People may remember Ireland’s 2022 meeting with Italy when the visitors were reduced to 13 players, and briefly 12, towards the end of a fiasco of a game in the Aviva Stadium.

Injury and a red card ruined any chance of a competitive match and Italy’s Six Nations inclusion was questioned. Ireland will travel as favourites. But a year on, the mood has changed.