‘Italians will be tougher than England’ – Hadden

Mar 11 2008 by Our Correspondent, South Wales Echo

SCOTLAND coach Frank Hadden reckons that playing Italy in Rome next Saturday will be a tougher mission for his team than the one they faced last weekend when they took on England at Murrayfield.

The dust has barely settled after Scotland’s shock victory over Brian Ashton’s men, but already Hadden is looking forward to Saturday’s wooden spoon decider.

Italy prop up the RBS Six Nations table with four defeats from four outings, but a victory by five points or more on Saturday would see them leapfrog Frank Hadden’s side, who are currently second bottom with only one win to their name.

“Last time we beat England I had a fortnight to enjoy it but this time I had 22 hours because that was how long it was before Italy played against France, and our entire focus is now on our next game,” said Hadden.

“They are a side which has made a lot of progress over the last couple of years. “We actually believe that it is going to be a bigger challenge this week than last.”