ALL VERY RELAXED in Rome, but then how could it not be with clear skies and a soul-warming sun sitting over the Italian capital.
Conor O’Shea gathers his team around him and delivers a speech containing an impressive amount of Italian, as well as a few key messages in English. His press officer confirms that the Irishman is getting there with the language.
O'Shea speaks to his team in Rome. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Afterwards, Mike Catt stands with the backs to discuss attack, while Brendan Venter picks out individual players for a quiet word about defence. It’s quite the coaching staff Italy have assembled.
O’Shea is the right man in the right place, tasked with lifting Italian rugby towards being a genuinely top-tier nation.
“He brings a lot of energy and enthusiasm to the team,” says Italy captain Sergio Parisse of the Irishman’s influence, before pointing to the biggest task on O’Shea’s hands in Italy.
Many of these Italian players are accustomed to losing rugby matches, perhaps even conditioned to lose them. Old habits die hard, but O’Shea must crack a tradition that is rooted in Italy’s club game.
“He’s really confident in our potential, he believes in us, and his most important challenge is to change our mentality,” says Parisse, “because most of the guys in the team have the habit every week to be criticised, have no wins with Zebre or Treviso.
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“Sometimes human nature… when everyone says to you that you don’t do your work properly every day, every day, every day, sometimes you maybe think you are not good enough to do the job. This is our big challenge.
“It’s not always the fault of the players, sometimes it’s that they play every single week in a negative environment, especially in Zebre. Treviso less, but Zebre play in a disaster situation at the moment, so it’s difficult to expect to have players with a positive, winning mentality.
“That’s the huge challenge for Conor. We can’t change everything like that [in an instant], but for the long-term project it’s important for him to put things in a good way to have the team playing in a good club environment.”
Parisse remains the key man for Italy. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
O’Shea has stressed the need for Italy to battle against the perceptions around their rugby, particularly in terms of being poorly disciplined and physically unfit.
But those two issues came to the fore again last weekend as Italy folded in the second half against Wales at Stadio Olimpico, conceding too many penalties and failing to deal with the Welshmen’s stronger finish.
Ireland, too, will expect to push clear in the final 20 minutes.
“[Conor] says it’s important to be fit to play,” says Parisse. “We know that other teams, and especially Ireland tomorrow, they think we’re not fit enough to get 80 minutes, so they want to try and keep the ball in play, keep the ball in play, and score more than four tries.
“I think that is their mentality. It’s a big challenge.”
The Azzurri will naturally get any rewards for an investment into improving the Zebre and Treviso set-ups, but Parisse believes there have been short-term gains under O’Shea at Test level, even if last weekend was a disappointment.
“We had a huge victory against South Africa and it was the same players of Zebre, and the same team that took 60 points against the All Blacks,” says Parisse.
“After the All Blacks game, we said we were working in a good way. We confirmed that with a huge win against South Africa.
“But the same players that played against South Africa, go and play in Zebre and Treviso. Conor is starting to create a really good environment and professional working way when we are a national team, the intensity of training and the way of analysing teams, that preparation.”
O'Shea has a big job on his hands. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
O’Shea mentioned at the Six Nations launch last month that tomorrow was always likely to bring odd feelings for him as he plans to beat the nation he represented 35 times as a player, but Parisse says the head coach has put sentiment firmly to one side.
“It’s the first time for him, he’s Irish, so it’s a special moment for him. His family, his friends, everyone is looking at him. But for him, he’s really focusing on us as a team. It’s a big challenge for him, but he’s someone who believes in us.
“Because we got up for the game in Wales but it was disappointing in the second half, when we had no discipline and we gave Wales three points every time easily and let them have the game.
“For him, the focus is not because it’s Ireland but because he wants a better performance for us. We know that Ireland, for me personally, is a better team than Wales, so it’s going to be very difficult tomorrow.”
'Ireland don't think we're fit enough for 80 minutes' - Italy's Parisse
Murray Kinsella reports from Stadio Olimpico
ALL VERY RELAXED in Rome, but then how could it not be with clear skies and a soul-warming sun sitting over the Italian capital.
Conor O’Shea gathers his team around him and delivers a speech containing an impressive amount of Italian, as well as a few key messages in English. His press officer confirms that the Irishman is getting there with the language.
Afterwards, Mike Catt stands with the backs to discuss attack, while Brendan Venter picks out individual players for a quiet word about defence. It’s quite the coaching staff Italy have assembled.
O’Shea is the right man in the right place, tasked with lifting Italian rugby towards being a genuinely top-tier nation.
“He brings a lot of energy and enthusiasm to the team,” says Italy captain Sergio Parisse of the Irishman’s influence, before pointing to the biggest task on O’Shea’s hands in Italy.
Many of these Italian players are accustomed to losing rugby matches, perhaps even conditioned to lose them. Old habits die hard, but O’Shea must crack a tradition that is rooted in Italy’s club game.
“He’s really confident in our potential, he believes in us, and his most important challenge is to change our mentality,” says Parisse, “because most of the guys in the team have the habit every week to be criticised, have no wins with Zebre or Treviso.
“Sometimes human nature… when everyone says to you that you don’t do your work properly every day, every day, every day, sometimes you maybe think you are not good enough to do the job. This is our big challenge.
“It’s not always the fault of the players, sometimes it’s that they play every single week in a negative environment, especially in Zebre. Treviso less, but Zebre play in a disaster situation at the moment, so it’s difficult to expect to have players with a positive, winning mentality.
“That’s the huge challenge for Conor. We can’t change everything like that [in an instant], but for the long-term project it’s important for him to put things in a good way to have the team playing in a good club environment.”
O’Shea has stressed the need for Italy to battle against the perceptions around their rugby, particularly in terms of being poorly disciplined and physically unfit.
But those two issues came to the fore again last weekend as Italy folded in the second half against Wales at Stadio Olimpico, conceding too many penalties and failing to deal with the Welshmen’s stronger finish.
Ireland, too, will expect to push clear in the final 20 minutes.
“[Conor] says it’s important to be fit to play,” says Parisse. “We know that other teams, and especially Ireland tomorrow, they think we’re not fit enough to get 80 minutes, so they want to try and keep the ball in play, keep the ball in play, and score more than four tries.
“I think that is their mentality. It’s a big challenge.”
The Azzurri will naturally get any rewards for an investment into improving the Zebre and Treviso set-ups, but Parisse believes there have been short-term gains under O’Shea at Test level, even if last weekend was a disappointment.
“We had a huge victory against South Africa and it was the same players of Zebre, and the same team that took 60 points against the All Blacks,” says Parisse.
“After the All Blacks game, we said we were working in a good way. We confirmed that with a huge win against South Africa.
“But the same players that played against South Africa, go and play in Zebre and Treviso. Conor is starting to create a really good environment and professional working way when we are a national team, the intensity of training and the way of analysing teams, that preparation.”
O’Shea mentioned at the Six Nations launch last month that tomorrow was always likely to bring odd feelings for him as he plans to beat the nation he represented 35 times as a player, but Parisse says the head coach has put sentiment firmly to one side.
“It’s the first time for him, he’s Irish, so it’s a special moment for him. His family, his friends, everyone is looking at him. But for him, he’s really focusing on us as a team. It’s a big challenge for him, but he’s someone who believes in us.
“Because we got up for the game in Wales but it was disappointing in the second half, when we had no discipline and we gave Wales three points every time easily and let them have the game.
“For him, the focus is not because it’s Ireland but because he wants a better performance for us. We know that Ireland, for me personally, is a better team than Wales, so it’s going to be very difficult tomorrow.”
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