It was a reward for Nick Mallett, an informed and intelligent coach, who has had to work with the smallest squad in Europe, and a resounding pat on the back for his players.
Any old coach can pluck results from a huge well of talent but Mallett has done so without a pair of half backs, with a midfield that is held together by string and with a huge burden placed on his star players, Sergio Parisse and Martin Castrogiovanni.
There was no luck underpinning the victory here. This was not a scratchy moment. From the moment that Mirco Bergamasco rifled over the penalty to secure the one-point lead, Italy looked like the winners they weren’t against Ireland.
During that game they missed an upset when they failed to secure the restart after getting in front of Ireland in the final seconds.
Against France, there was no repeat error. As France tried in vain to set up a position for a Francois Trinh-Duc drop goal, it was Italy, controlled and orderly, who provided the resistance.
That’s the measure of their improvement. And all this, don’t forget, against the team that are still, for a weak at least, the current Grand Slam holders.
Italy have never had enjoyed this magnitude of success before. They’ve had their moments, against Wales and Scotland, but outside of those two nations they had never beaten the big three of Ireland, England and France in the Six Nations.
Scotch France from that list now and think of the two that remain. What price the scalps of England and Ireland over the next few years. Both have struggled in Rome.
And what of France? There’s no debate now. Italy’s victory has exposed French coach Marc Lievremont as a charlatan. If France stay with him for the World Cup, then God help them.
Lievremont has had too long to get his side sorted for this defeat to be a blip. Blessed with the best bunch of players by some distance – and that includes a resurgent England – Lievremont has chopped and changed and seen his team lose confidence and fall into decline.
There were those who thought that their performance in the opening game of this Six Nations against Scotland was proof that they had exorcised the demons which possessed them against Australia when a second half of catastrophic awfulness saw then concede a shed load of points.
I was at the Stade de France when Scotland were the visitors and thought that they had regrouped. It was born out of a love French rugby generally and a belief that all that talent has to be channelled into something special.
What a romantic fool I was. The truth, the brutal truth, is that Lievremont is betraying a great tradition.
How can a coach seriously, as he did this week, justify the inclusion of Sebastien Chabal to play Italy solely on the basis that he was not catastrophic against England.
That’s madness, as was Lievremont’s decision to rest prop Thomas Domingo and No 8 Imanol Harinordoquy for Wales, the so-called bigger game. International rugby is about the here and now, not next week or a tournament at the end of the year, even if that tournament is the World Cup.
Teams build confidence by winning and they win more often when they settle on a side and play them on a regular basis. That is England’s policy under Martin Johnson.
The England manager has resisted the clamour to change his midfield of Mike Tindall and Shontayne Hape because he knows what he gets with them, warts and all.
Lievremont lacks that clarity of thinking and France have suffered as a result. As the excitement grew in those closing minutes in Rome; as Mallett hopped and skipped down the stands towards pitch-side like an excited schoolgirls; as Italy finally nailed a result of real importance, thoughts also turned to the fact that France were unable to pursue a drop goal routine which might have nicked a win for them.
Lievremont has ripped the confidence and clarity from France just as Mallett has invested those qualities in his side.
Paul Ackford, Daily Telegraph 12/03/2011
That’s the measure of their improvement. And all this, don’t forget, against the team that are still, for a weak at least, the current Grand Slam holders.
Italy have never had enjoyed this magnitude of success before. They’ve had their moments, against Wales and Scotland, but outside of those two nations they had never beaten the big three of Ireland, England and France in the Six Nations.
Scotch France from that list now and think of the two that remain. What price the scalps of England and Ireland over the next few years. Both have struggled in Rome.
And what of France? There’s no debate now. Italy’s victory has exposed French coach Marc Lievremont as a charlatan. If France stay with him for the World Cup, then God help them.
Lievremont has had too long to get his side sorted for this defeat to be a blip. Blessed with the best bunch of players by some distance – and that includes a resurgent England – Lievremont has chopped and changed and seen his team lose confidence and fall into decline.
There were those who thought that their performance in the opening game of this Six Nations against Scotland was proof that they had exorcised the demons which possessed them against Australia when a second half of catastrophic awfulness saw then concede a shed load of points.
I was at the Stade de France when Scotland were the visitors and thought that they had regrouped. It was born out of a love French rugby generally and a belief that all that talent has to be channelled into something special.
What a romantic fool I was. The truth, the brutal truth, is that Lievremont is betraying a great tradition.
How can a coach seriously, as he did this week, justify the inclusion of Sebastien Chabal to play Italy solely on the basis that he was not catastrophic against England.
That’s madness, as was Lievremont’s decision to rest prop Thomas Domingo and No 8 Imanol Harinordoquy for Wales, the so-called bigger game. International rugby is about the here and now, not next week or a tournament at the end of the year, even if that tournament is the World Cup.
Teams build confidence by winning and they win more often when they settle on a side and play them on a regular basis. That is England’s policy under Martin Johnson.
The England manager has resisted the clamour to change his midfield of Mike Tindall and Shontayne Hape because he knows what he gets with them, warts and all.
Lievremont lacks that clarity of thinking and France have suffered as a result. As the excitement grew in those closing minutes in Rome; as Mallett hopped and skipped down the stands towards pitch-side like an excited schoolgirls; as Italy finally nailed a result of real importance, thoughts also turned to the fact that France were unable to pursue a drop goal routine which might have nicked a win for them.
Lievremont has ripped the confidence and clarity from France just as Mallett has invested those qualities in his side.
Paul Ackford, Daily Telegraph 12/03/2011
No comments:
Post a Comment