By Tadhg Peavoy
Irish rugby went through a dark tunnel of demoralising international defeats in the 1990s. Perhaps the most damning losses of this period were three slayings at the hands of Italy - one in 1995 and two in 1997. Those three defeats remain the only times the Azzurri have beaten Ireland, but they are a beacon for Italian rugby that they will one day conquer their Celtic rivals again.
Italy elite performance director Carlo Checchinato is one of the towering Italian legends of the game. The second row was capped 83 times for his country and scored an eye opening 21 tries from the engine room. He played for Italy in the two 1997 victories and remembers them as a personal highlight, and one of the zeniths of Italian rugby, “Those victories are some of the greatest of my rugby career - the winning series against Ireland and the victory in 1997 against France. We developed a new confidence in the way we played and began to be competitive.”
Pictured below (from left to right): Italy assistant coach Alessandro Troncon, former head coach Nick Mallett and elite performance director Carlo Checchinato.
Alessandro Troncon, Italy’s most capped international with 101 appearances, and the current assistant coach for the Azzurri, played in all three of those Italian wins and can’t help but break out in laughter when he says "they took place a long time ago", but also remembers the games as epochal moments in the history of the game in the Boot of Europe, “I have enormous memories of those games. It was the first time we won against a team from the Five Nations.
“When we won in 1995, before the World Cup that year, and also twice in 1997, they were special moments for the Italy rugby team. It was really thanks to those wins that we were able to get into the Six Nations, they were crucial moments for the evolution of the sport in the country.”
Pictured below: Checchinato offloads while under pressure from Peter Clohessy at Campo Arcoveggio in 1997.
Christian Marchetti, rugby writer with Corriere dello Sport, echoes Checchinato and Troncon, and feels that the triple crown of wins hark back to a time when Italian rugby began to realise how much potential it possessed, “The most beautiful victory was the 37-29 in Lansdowne Road on 4 January 1997. It was unbelievable. Italians realised that anything is possible – in rugby too.”
Since Italy’s induction into the Six Nations in 2000, things have not been so rosy, with fourth place in 2007 their best-ever finish, and no wins recorded against Ireland and England. Checchinato feels the current Italy side are a work in progress under new head coach Jacques Brunel, “Every time there is a new coach it takes time to see how big the improvement can be in the team.
"The first two matches we played [against France and England], Italy have shown a different spirit in terms of desire and wish to play. We defended well, but were not ambitious enough in terms of our play. We need to retain the ball more and go through more phases.
“The score didn't reflect the match against France, and we were upset about the result against England because we should have won, but lacked the maturity to grab it.
“Against France mistakes cost us: when you play against such a strong attacking side this can happen. Four mistakes, four tries, that’s it - the match was over. We were a bit unlucky, a few bounces didn’t go our way. Against England it was a problem of maturity and bad goal kicking.”
Pictured below: Troncon clears his lines at Lansdowne Road in 1997.
Troncon sings from the same hymn sheet when it comes to Italy’s problems so far in the 2012 championship, “We could have won against England and we lost a great opportunity. We had that result in our hands – it’s frustrating. We can improve, but with a new coach things have changed. We need to find the right link play in the team.
“Against France we made important mistakes and France scored tries from the ball we lost, at this level, if you lose the ball, you pay. Against England we played the wrong way at crucial moments, we kicked when we shouldn’t have kicked, some balls we should have slowed down we rushed, and we paid for it.”
Marchetti also feels that Italy have plenty of potential but need time for a collective spirit to develop, “Italy have shown a different approach and a brand new spirit. Players are more responsible and want to attack. But the team still needs time to learn Brunel's system. Currently, Italy make a lot of individual mistakes.
Pictured below: Italy coach Jacques Brunel is hoping to implement a more attacking style than his predecessor Nick Mallett.
“In Paris, we saw some mistakes of the past: bad defence and many missed opportunities in attack. In Rome, [against England], [Martin] Castrogiovanni's injury and some Brunel wrong choices [cost Italy] – Kris Burton and Leonardo Ghiraldini's substitutions and mismanagement of the final minutes. The first victory against England had never been so close.”
Looking ahead to the clash with Ireland, both former players have praised the Ireland pack and the back three unit, Checccinato opines, “Ireland are strong at the set pieces and you must not give them momentum, so defence is very important. Bowe and Trimble are very good, and I also like Kearney a lot. The back row is also very good.”
Pictured below: Rob Kearney has been highlighted by Checchinato and Troncon as a major threat to the Azzurri.
Troncon gushes that Declan Kidney’s team are a very strong unit all around, “The Ireland pack is very dynamic if you give them momentum. The Ireland backs, with Kearney, Trimble and Bowe, can trouble any team. It’s a very complete team and the match in Dublin will be very difficult for us. But we’re going to play our game and try to trouble Ireland that way.”
Marchetti feels Ireland may just have the edge on their Latin opponents: “The Azzurri will challenge Ireland at the rucks and the line-outs. It will be an amazing battle between the back-rows also. Italy will also want to kick better. Ireland’s strengths are the second and back-row, fly-half, scrum-half and the Rugby World Cup's souvenir [the win against Italy in Dunedin].”
Ireland are coming off the back of two crushing defeats to Wales, but Checchinato is not convinced Ireland are reeling, or that now is a good time to face them, “As a player once, and now as a staff member, I don't put a lot of motivation on what the opposition can do.” But Marchetti is more direct and holds the opinion Ireland will be an angry beast this weekend, “It’s not a good time to play Ireland. Italy are still work in progress; Ireland don’t not want to disappoint again in Dublin.”
Tries are key to winning rugby matches and Italy, quite simply, need to score more to gain some nose bleed territory and find the cushion of more than one team below them come the final Six Nations table, Checchinato thinks the tries are coming and that patience is key, “We need time and confidence. We have some very good young players. They are very good, but they can be much better. We need to give them the confidence to play at this level, and we mustn’t be scared to play.”
Troncon backs up his management partner, “We need to improve our automatic reflexes, and we must play our own game. We’re playing a new style and we haven’t played in this way before. We need to improve our timing and our counter attacking.
“We’re finding a new spirit, we need to develop this, and when we have it will be easier for all the players. If we work hard our new style will work on the pitch.
“With Nick Mallett (Italy’s previous coach) we had a good spirit, but now we are trying a new style in attack and we are trying to take more of an initiative. We want a more attacking spirit. We’re being ambitious and that always poses problems and things won’t happen for us straight away. We need to continue to try to counter attack.”
Pictured below: Troncon has highlighted counter-attacking skills - as displayed by Tommaso Benvenuti below - as an area Italy must improve.
Spirit, and the desire to bring it to the fore, was a sentiment that was strong in all three Italians when they discussed the progress of their national team. It is a quality that has never been in short supply for the Azzurri, and one they will need to display in order to overcome Ireland this weekend. However, allying that spirit to a cold, clinical nature has been the missing ingredient for Italy in terms of how they approach a Test match in the past. The feeling remains that they are not far off getting the mixture right.
