Conor O’Shea knows how Italian rugby is perceived by many outsiders. He has been the Azzurri’s head coach for only eight months but the noises off are wearily familiar. “Everybody is having a pop,” says O’Shea, clearly irritated beneath his ever-positive exterior. “People look for cheap and easy headlines. I would question whether some actually believe it but the world in which we live has no grey areas, only black and white. We know that.”
If this was just a case of a national team losing a couple of early home matches to Wales and Ireland, the barbs could be largely dismissed. Some of the dagger-sharp verdicts on Italy’s status prior to Sunday’s date with England, however, would make a latter-day Brutus wince, with Georgia’s position above them in the world rankings having further revved up the perennial Six Nations relegation debate. Even as O’Shea offers the Guardian his own snappy soundbite – “We’re going into our Colosseum this weekend” – he is keenly aware where his players risk being thrown.
The pre-match figures certainly make uncomfortable reading. The Azzurri have shipped an average of 50 points per game in their last six Six Nations fixtures. This weekend threatens to deliver their 75th defeat in 17 years in the championship, while Zebre and Treviso prop up the Pro12 table. In the past dozen European Cup seasons, the pattern has been similarly grim. Italian club sides have won a mere six of their 126 European Cup matches since 2005, with their solitary win on the road claimed by Treviso over Newport Gwent Dragons a decade ago.
On the plus side Scotland, France and Wales have all claimed the wooden spoon after finishing below Italy in the past but the traditional order is under threat. Georgia supply many of the strongest tight forwards in the French Top 14, have won the second-tier Rugby Europe championship for the past six years and attract crowds of 50,000 in Tbilisi. While no one wants to stick the patent leather into Italy, these are delicate days for the Six Nations committee. Their eventual response – for better or worse – will shape rugby in Europe for generations.
For O’Shea, regardless of his present postcode, the choice is simple: expand or die. “All I know is the game of rugby cannot afford to contract,” he says. “If you cut off the lifeline of nations you’re going to end up with a game to which we’ve done a huge disservice. International rugby is the driver for rugby. Think of the strength of Romanian rugby in the 1970s and what we have allowed it to become. If we get to the stage of having just six or seven nations and no one else can break in we are going to kill the game.”
How much healthier in the long term, assuming Georgia keep improving, to grant access to all in the shape of a one-up one-down Seven Nations with a balanced mix of home and away fixtures. O’Shea also believes critics overlook the heritage of Italian rugby and are showing insufficient respect to past gladiators, from the lion-hearted Massimo Giovanelli and Ivan Francescato to the immaculate Diego Domínguez.
The former Ireland full-back has also seen enough evocative pictures on clubhouse walls in Petrarca, Calvisano and Viadana to care hugely about the future: “We know we’re the underdog, we know the system has to change, we know we need to invest but we also know there’s a massive history. We don’t have the money of other countries but we have to make sure we nourish what is there. I want to come back on holiday in 10-15 years, have a beer with Sergio Parisse and feel we’ve contributed something together.”
For that satisfying postscript to materialise, Italy will need to improve swiftly on their dispiriting losses to Wales and Ireland. At half-time against the Welsh they were in decent shape; since then they have been trudging through treacle. “The biggest thing we’re trying to get across to the players is understanding how momentum changes games,” says O’Shea. “Even if you’re under the pump, your time will come if you hang in there. I look back at the Ireland game: we get a penalty try, it’s 21-10, and Ireland have a player in the bin. Then, from the next kick-off, we give a penalty away, they kick to the corner and suddenly it’s 28-10. Just when we could have changed the game’s energy, we’ve given it back.”
O’Shea also emphasises that Italy’s most pressing problems are mental as much as physical. “All some people do is have a go at these guys. It’s wearing. You’re dealing with people who aren’t broken but have been through such a bad period that expectation levels aren’t high. They are a lot better than they currently think. Our focus has been: ‘Don’t feel sorry for yourselves, don’t go into your shell.’ We know how hard a journey we’re going have to go on but we’re doing it at the very highest level. That’s what we’re telling the players: that we’re going to learn the whole time. Despite our first two results we’ve put in some really firm future foundations.”
For O’Shea and his assistants Mike Catt and Brendan Venter – all proven winners – last autumn’s win over South Africa supplied genuine hope, even if subsequent results, including defeat to Tonga, have stung badly. “It’s raw and it hurts but it’s also exciting,” says O’Shea, now residing with his young family in the town of Sirmione, near Verona. “What we’re saying is: ‘Stay in the fight, focus on the process and do your job rather than trying to do something you’re not capable of.’ We have to stop following errors with more errors.”
But what if the hosts, as Eddie Jones has urged, do take their visitors “to the cleaners” at English rugby’s concrete Colosseum? “We can’t afford to go out and lose by 60 points, that just shouldn’t happen,” admits O’Shea. “It’s going to be one heck of a hard game but we’ll give it everything. This a proud group; a team that makes 214 tackles [against Ireland] doesn’t raise the white flag.”
And even if Italy do get flogged, their new Irish cardinal will keep re-emphasising the bigger picture. “At times like this, for a country as steeped in rugby as Italy, we need people’s support. If not, in years to come, we’ll all regret it.” Remember those words should Italy again finish a distant second at Twickenham.
