Many people are eating their words this week as Italy recorded an emphatic victory at Murrayfield on Saturday, myself included. Strong underdogs, they went to Scotland and came out on top against a Scotland team who were tipped to do well this year and currently sit afoot of the table. The sheer delight and relief on Sergio Parisses’ face at the end of the match showed just how much it meant to a man who basically has the hopes of a nation on his shoulders.
Jacques Brunel stated his team need to play the “perfect game” to win, he may not have got that but he certainly got the perfect outcome.
I have said recently that if the Italians could get a stronghold upfront they can gain an advantage in any game they play in. They did just that, it was a close game as expected but the Italian line-out was efficient. It was being led by an outstanding Josh Furno, the Italians could take advantage of field positions they were in and the Scottish scrum was put under pressure by the powerful Azurri.
It didn’t look good early on with the man under scrutiny Kelly Haimona gifting Mark Bennett an intercept try. But the Italians soon struck back with a brilliantly executed driving maul. Everything Scotland threw at them they had an answer for.
Their issues in the first half came ffrom trying to play a wide game, but not setting the platform beforehand. This leaves a team susceptible to counter attacks which was what occurred. They clearly have the size in the pack to set the platform, but didn’t seem keen on it with Kelly Haimona choosing to run the ball.
They need to work on improving their game management, not trying to run the ball so much and kicking for territory more. Furthermore their handling was poor at times and silly mistakes are costing them dear. Finally a change at ten is needed, they are leaking points with Haimonas lack of consistency off the tee and Tommy Allan looked quite composed when he came on.
There were however some very positive individual performances. Firstly Edoardo Gori looks a very strong nine, he likes to play the game at pace which puts the opposition under pressure. As stated, Josh Furno was fantastic and really led from the front in the pack. This was alongside the evergreen Sergio Parisse who put in another world class performance. Finally Luke Mclean was excellent at full back, he gives the team a real option with his kicking. Especially from penalties, and this greatly helped them in the game.
The tournament now takes another break, which the Italians will probably be disappointed about due to wanting to carry on their momentum. They face France at home next on the 15th of March, and with France looking indifferent at the moment a win is not out of the Italians reach. Saturday really epitomised why we love this game, who knows what can happen.
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