Six Nations 2021: Italy focuses on the future as questions override their place in the Six Nations | Rugby Union News

Italy head to Twickenham to face England with questions going through about their future as part of the Six Nations. However, the Azzurri still have the support to be present in the tournament as they build for the future.

In Inferno, Dante wrote of the Nine Circles of Hell. It may not be too long to say that there is also a 10th, where it is difficult for him to spend eternity as an Italian defensive coach.

Marius Goosen has been in the job with the Azzurri for a shorter five years, though you wonder if there are times in South Africa’s questions if he’s punished for something.

Take Saturday’s Six Nations opener against France, for example. In the build-up period, Goosen talked about how they marked a drop in the quarter-finals of last year’s Six Nations and Autumn Cup games that remained a key area for improvement.

“We analyzed all the games played in the fall and saw that our biggest problem came at the same time as the last 20 minutes of the game,” Goosen said ahead of the game.

“On the one hand it is clear that we did not enjoy it, but on the other hand it allowed us to reach this meeting with clear ideas to understand how we can improve the situation. “

So the 47-year-old, head coach Franco Smith and the rest of the Italian staff must have been watching the uprising at the Stadio Olimpico while France went on. into a 21-point lead at half-time, with the assistant after the assistant had been pushed to one side and the visitors eventually won 5-10 winners.

This was a result that Italy admitted to just losing the 28 Nations and not many give them much of a chance to avoid making 29 against England at Twickenham on Saturday afternoon.

Such results on the voices call on Georgia, who opened the European Rugby Championship in the second tier with a 16-7 home win for Russia last Saturday, to get a chance to step up to the Six Nations growing taller.

But one person who has been quick to defend Italy’s place in the preseason tournament is Smith and one who will be on the England side of the fence this weekend, Conor O’Shea.

The Irishman noted how the Azzurri have taken a bolder approach, attacking the mind as opposed to the scrum approach, which is controlled by the Georgia front, as well as warning of the damage it would do to rugby in Italy if cut from the Six Nations.

“The easy thing is to just question what Italy is doing, but when you look at their style of play, they are infinitely better than Georgia,” said O’Shea, who is now the RFU’s performance rugby director, to the Daily mail.

“The worst thing you can do now is contract, and some decisions could now make that happen, which you should not do. We should all want that teams like Georgia and Romania grow, but don’t let us kill any other country while we kill. ‘re at it. “

One advantage of Italian rugby over advanced Tier Two countries such as Georgia is that they have two clubs in Benetton and Zebre playing in the PRO14, resulting in more players gaining regular experience of domestic rugby tournaments. and European clubs.

There is no doubt that the current Northampton Saints player and England U20 player Jamie Elliott, who is now in his third season playing for Zebre based in Parma, is under the responsibility of the national team that ‘lose through.

“After the Autumn internationals, they feel like they’ve come a long way as a team and they’ve captured more, so we’ll see what the Six Nations hold,” Elliott said. .

“England have been against them several times, but this side of Italy can be invisible, and they will have nothing to lose again. They will definitely come on fire.”

That scene is taken by Stephen Varney, the Welsh-born 19-year-old scrum who deserves Italy through his mother and is one of Smith’s youngest-looking players. as the future of the team.

It may be six years since the permanent wood shutters won a game in the Six Nations, but Azzurri ‘s 20 years have beaten both Scotland and Wales in recent seasons.

And while Varney admits he didn’t intend to make the step up to Test level so quickly, the Gloucester man is confident players are starting to come through that can turn Italy into a bigger side. competing as they head towards the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

“Personally, I didn’t think it would come so early, but Franco is looking towards the next World Cup so it’s good to give us some exposure in those Six Nations and in the the next three years, “said Varney.

“It was clear playing in the U20 squad that there were a lot of good players and stars in the future.

“I saw a couple of things on social media. At the end of the day it gives us the confidence to work harder and want to go out and earn even more.”