Italy desperate for improvement to silence doubters

By PAUL REES

PREVIEW…

Ireland v Italy

Today. Kick-off 3pm, Aviva Stadium

Bright spark: Monty Ioane offers a threat out wide for Italy

AN unchanged Italy team is as a rare as an Azzurri victory in the Six Nations. A 35th successive reverse in the championship beckons in Dublin today, a statistic that drives calls for South Africa to take their place.

When Italy joined the tournament in 2000, it signalled the end of the bye weekend because there was no longer an odd number of teams, but such has been their lack of impact that opponents have come to rest some of their leading players for a fixture that has become a race for the try bonus point.

It is not as if Italy are running teams close. It is four years since they mustered a losing bonus point and they have failed to score a second half point in four of their last five Six Nations matches.

It took France a while to get going in the old Five Nations, but it was not because they lacked an infrastructure. The club game, centred largely in the south, was far more popular than Test rugby and players often turned down caps.

Italy are 14th in the world rankings, below Georgia, a position that reflects the ordinariness of their two professional sides, Treviso and Zebre, perennial strugglers in the United Rugby Championship and the two European club tournaments.

“Italy will only become competitive when the two franchises are,” said the former Ireland scrum-half Michael Bradley, who was sacked as Zebre's head coach last month after four years in charge. “The URC and Six Nations should be asking questions of the Italian union.

“The measure of where Italy are is relative to where the franchises are in the Champions Cup pecking order. It will become even more difficult next season when South African teams take part. The money is there but what is needed is ambition.”

Kieran Crowley, the former New Zealand fullback, is the latest coach to try and reverse Italy's decline. He led Treviso for five years, culminating in last season's Rainbow Cup success, and was involved in two World Cups with Canada.

“We have massive challenges around the exposure of players,” he said when asked about the prospects of the current U20 side, which beat England earlier this month, breaking into the professional game.

“We have had some really good U20s sides and we have players coming through. Their transition is an area that needs to become more seamless and we also have to look at whether there should be a positional cap on foreign players in our two franchises.”

Italy were competitive in the first half against France in the opening round and defiant throughout against England in Rome, but as will be the case at the Aviva Stadium, there were more holes in their dyke than they had fingers.

Crowley has made three changes from England while Ireland's head coach Andy Farrell has called on six new starters. They have scored 313 points in their last seven matches in Dublin, just a penalty kick more than their total in the last seven home games against Italy.

For Ireland, it is about getting back on track after the defeat to France in Paris with England at Twickenham following. Italy will look to slow down possession and stop Jamison Gibson-Park dictating the pace of the game from scrum-half.

For Italy, it is about more than survival. “We have to start pulling our weight,” said Crowley. “I am not against the idea of promotion and relegation in the Six Nations, but that is a decision for the boardroom. We can silence that chat through our own performances.”