RUGBY: Scotland v Italy:NICK MALLETT breezed into Edinburgh this week like a man who knows he is not only going to keep his job, but may even be in for a pay rise. How else do you explain his decision to follow up the historic win against France by making six changes for the match against Scotland today that will decide whether the Italians take home yet another wooden spoon.
Against France, Mallett picked eight men honed by playing there and backed them up with Martin Castrogiovanni of Leicester. Today, 10 of the starting XV play for Italian clubs. It is almost as though the coach is deluding himself about the depth of talent in his squad, or as if he is sure of the outcome when he and the president of the Italian federation, Giancarlo Dondi, sit down next week – probably on Thursday – to discuss whether Mallett’s contract, worth €200,000 a year, will be extended beyond the World Cup.
“It’s going to be from both sides, it’s whether I want to continue as well as whether they want me to continue,” said Mallett. “We’ll see.”
However, Dondi is not known for giving second chances and until the remarkable events of last Saturday at the Stadio Flaminio, Mallett’s record with Italy stood at five wins from 34 matches, with only a defeat of Fiji to show from eight games since last year’s Six Nations. And then there is the deal Dondi is said to have made with Perpignan coach Jacques Brunel.
Dondi admits only that Brunel has been “sounded out . . . as we have other coaches”. But Brunel told his players in January he would be gone by the summer and later said: “It was difficult to pass up . . . coaching a national team has always been a dream of mine.”
Mallett would argue this has been Italy’s best season in a decade. “We should’ve won against Argentina, we did very well against Australia – we lost but it was only 25-15, so it was quite close,” he said. “We beat Fiji, and Fiji drew with Wales in Wales, so that was a good result. We could have beaten Ireland. We could have beaten Wales. We got smashed by England, but we weren’t psychologically up for that kind of game. The guys haven’t got a lot of pace, so if you start falling off tackles, and your defence isn’t good, you’re going to get smashed.
“In this (France) game, the guys were nervous of getting smashed, they were very nervous, so we played very well. Our heads don’t go down now, even at 18-6.”
Sergio Parisse, Mallett’s captain and number eight put the coach’s case for staying on after the win over France. “He’s the only coach who believed in us, I want to dedicate this victory to him,” said Parisse. With Corriere dello Sport evoking Neil Armstrong – “A small step for a rugby player, a giant leap for Italian rugby” – to reinforce the point, Dondi must surely keep his coach on.
GuardianService
SCOTLAND: C Paterson; M Evans, J Ansbro, S Lamont, S Danielli; R Jackson, R Lawson; A Jacobsen, R Ford, G Cross, R Gray, A Kellock (capt), N Hines, J Barclay, K Brown. Replacements: S Lawson, E Murray, R Vernon, A Strokosch, M Blair, D Parks, N De Luca.
ITALY: A Masi; T Benvenuti, G Canale, A Sgarbi, M Bergamasco; K Burton, F Semenzato; S Perugini, L Ghiraldini, M Castrogiovanni, C Del Fava, Q Geldenhuys, A Zanni, P Derbyshire, S Parisse (capt). Replacements: C Festuccia, A Lo Cicero, V Bernabo, R Barbieri, P Canavosio, L Orquera, L McLean.
Referee: Steve Walsh (Australia).
