IN THE first four of Leonardo Ghiraldini's Test appearances against England (2008-2013), Italy managed to get a losing bonus point from the fixture. How they would love something similar this weekend.
Since the last of those close encounters, it has been oneway traffic with England steamrollering the Azzurri by an average of 32 points per game in Six Nations contests.
While now-retired hooker Ghiraldini was pleased with certain aspects of Italy's play in their 37-10 defeat to France in round one, he has identified several key areas where they will need to improve if they are to avoid another painful experience.
“In the first half you could see they tried to build momentum and were quite solid on defence, especially when you consider who they were playing against,” the 107-cap hooker observed.
“The line speed and the connection between the players was better. It is a good start but it is not enough, there is still lots to improve on, especially in terms of possession. You cannot defend for 80 minutes.
“In the contact area, they had problems. They lost too much ball, they had around 15 handling errors and conceded too many turnovers. The breakdown wasn't good enough.
“These are key areas. Against teams like England and France, you cannot give them too many opportunities.
“They have to understand that at this level every small error will be punished.”
Ghiraldini, below, wants to see Italy build on their encouraging first half performance in Paris and continue to push back against the tide of negativity brought about by their wretched 33-game losing streak in the Six Nations.
“England had a bad result in their last game against Scotland but they are better than us, you only have to look at the results and the rankings to know that,” he said.
“But there is a possibility to change the negative momentum, step by step, game by game. I want to see us play properly – good defence, a good kicking game, physicality and doing the right things at the right time.”
Ghiraldini also wants the Italian back row to carry the ball more often and at pace, not just close to the ruck, to give Italy more go-forward in attack.
Blindside Sebastian Negri carried the ball nine times – but captain Michele Lamaro and No.8 Toa Halafihi managed only three between them.
Without centre Marco Zanon running hard from midfield and Monty Ioane darting in and out from the wing, Italy would have been fairly toothless in attack.
Ghiraldini said: “With the back row last week, Negri had a lot of ball but he was getting it under pressure. Halafihi didn't get a chance to carry and while Lamaro can carry, defence is his strength.
“Too many times our forwards would be getting the ball off nine, Italy need ball carriers to give them momentum.
“The few times they were able to win the gain line, the support wasn't there. They need to take those opportunities when they come along.”
Lamaro made the joint-most tackles on his Six Nations debut as captain (21) and Ghiraldini, who led Italy 17 times himself, likes what he sees.
“Michele has a good character and he is a natural leader. He is a key player for Italy.”
Ghiraldini believes his former Leicester teammate, Ben Youngs, is playing on top of his game at the moment.
Youngs will equal Jason Leonard's England national team record of 114 caps if he comes off the bench in Rome. “I was impressed by Ben Youngs, he played such a good game (against Scotland). His quality to make the team play is unbelievable,” he said.
“I remember when I played with him, he always gave you the ball at the right time and in the right moment.
“I think he played a good game, he was able to fix the defence to find solutions.
“He is really calm in matches, it seems like he is never under pressure, and he guides the team really well.”
