Mallett plots Azzurri’s mission in Cardiff

Feb 22 2008 by Delme Parfitt, South Wales Echo

TEN years ago at Loftus Versfeld, Nick Mallett addressed the press and dubbed Wales “the worst team in the world”.

He was speaking after his South Africa side had just annihilated a red-shirted rabble 96-13, with half the Pretoria crowd laughing at the tourists as the game entered its final few minutes.

Tomorrow he will take his seat at the Millennium Stadium to watch his Italy side in their annual, desperate quest, to make the Six Nations fixture against Wales count.

One thing is certain. If Warren Gatland didn’t fear facing England, Mallett sure as hell won’t have any qualms about the Welsh.

To a former Springbok coach, trips to Cardiff will be ingrained in his mind as easy pickings, even if he will not need reminding that the circumstances are now somewhat different.

We should not have been surprised that Mallett bristled after hearing Gatland’s vows to quiz tomorrow’s referee Dave Pearson about apparent Italian indiscipline against England in the previous round of the tournament.

“I’m glad Warren Gatland isn’t refereeing on Saturday,” snapped the Azzurri boss when the comments were put to him this week, followed by an espousal of his team’s diligent adherence to the laws.

All good fun, the type of exchange you always want to hear in the run-up to any Test match, particularly between coaches of such world repute as these two.

As far as Gatland was concerned it was a case of continuing with a successful formula – he’s already riled both Brian Ashton and Frank Hadden either side of the clashes against England and Scotland.

But a bit of needle never did anyone any harm. And it appears that’s the theory Wales have been working to in training this week.

Martyn Williams confessed there have been more then a few bouts of fisticuffs in camp.

It’s more than likely down to the increased competition for places under the new regime and the emphasis on shorter, sharper, more intense practice sessions.

Yet it’s difficult to know how to take that sort of news.

On the one hand Wales are going to need to be hungry and aggressive to deal with Italy tomorrow.

On the other they are going to need clarity of vision and purpose, in order to win the right to execute the game plan that will send the visitors packing.

To deal with the first part of the equation, the Azzurri can only win by trying to exert set-piece dominance and winning the battle up front.

They fancy themselves as the best scrummagers in the world and will arrive with a particular point to prove at the set-piece.

That is why Gatland’s selection of an entirely new front row and especially Rhys Thomas on the tighthead, a fellow not renowned for his power in the scrum, will have to prove the doubters wrong.

In fact, Gatland himself even admitted that Thomas and Jenkins were “under the pump” when they took on the Boks just before he came to the job last November.

Italy have made an impressive start to the championship in losing by five and four points respectively to Ireland away and England at home.

But in neither of those contests were they severely tested by an opposition able to attack from all angles. And that is what leads us neatly onto the second part of the formula.

You don’t need to be a professor of rugby to work out that if Wales put some air on the ball after they have established good field position, then Italy are likely to be vulnerable.

Mallett has already stated that he is expecting that sort of examination and he shouldn’t be disappointed.

But the two key words are field position - Wales have to earn the right to dictate the pattern, which is where the ball-carrying of captain Ryan Jones and the decision making of half-back pairing Dwayne Peel and Stephen Jones will be so pivotal.

The ability to think on their feet and react to the way matches unfold rather than wait for instructions from the dugout has been a short coming of the Wales team for too long.

It did for them at the World Cup when they didn’t have the nous to move the gameplan away from a sevens-like contest against the Fijians.

There have been signs of improvement in this department. Wales capitalised well in the second half at Twickenham, when they finished in charge of proceedings on the English try line despite being ahead on the scoreboard.

But none of that should gloss over some of the rushes of blood that occurred beforehand, or the fact that England helped them on their way after the interval with a spectacular self-destruction.

A week later and the cool-headed intervention of Jones and Peel steered Wales home against the Scots.

However, just before those two were introduced, Gatland’s men had allowed Hadden’s side to seize the momentum and whittle back the deficit to 17-15.

The obvious lesson then is that Wales need to boss things for longer spells.

If they fail to do so against Italy, they will find they are up against a team who are masters at sucking opposition into their way of doing things.

Wales were comfortable in the scrum against Scotland, but the lineout still needs polishing up and the Azzurri, even with Gloucester giant Marco Bortolami on the bench, will make it their business to exploit any confusion there.

Improved lineout efficiency would be a sound platform for Wales to tighten up all round.

Make no mistake they are going to need to.

There appears to be some misguided belief that this is still the easiest task of the tournament for Wales.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

Sure, Gatland’s boys may yet run out convincing winners, but on the starting grid, Italy represent a tougher proposition than Scotland in my book.

In a way they have a similar Achilles heel in that they don’t appear to offer much threat behind the scrum.

But, as Wales have found to their cost too many times, there’s more to winning rugby matches than dancing to a merry tune in the back line.

Remember, for all the new optimism that has surrounded the appointment of Warren Gatland, Italy are in the same boat.

In Mallett they have a coach with arguably an even better track record than Gatland.

What struck me was the way Mallett spoke after Italy’s close run thing against England a fortnight ago.

There was genuine deflation that his side hadn’t won the game rather than a “look how close we came” sort of outlook.

That’s the hallmark of a true winner – a true winner who has since been annoyed by remarks from his opposite number in Wales that his team don’t play fair. I don’t know about you but I find that a worrying combination.

Key battles

Gethin Jenkins v Martin Castrogiovanni
The Cardiff Blues prop has been brought back to add meat to the Welsh pack, but his clash with Castrogiovanni in the scrum will be fascinating. Italy are banking on dominance of this area to stand any chance and will rely on their Leicester powerhouse to provide it for them.

Ryan Jones v Sergio Parisse
The Wales captain is smarting after being subbed against the Scots, but his quest to make the hard yards with ball in hand remains vital to the home cause. Parisse will look to do exactly the same and whoever stands out will probably be on the winning side.

Stephen Jones v Andrea Masi
Jones’ experience at 10 dwarfs that of Masi and it is up to the Scarlets man to really hammer home his superiority by dictating the game and making life as awkward as possible for his opposite number. Jones did it off the bench against Scotland, now he must do it from the start.

Page 2 - Meet the Italian team taking on Wales