Rugby
Tom Hamilton, Senior Writer 6y

Six Nations: Italy coach Conor O'Shea on finding the perfect Azzurri style

Olympic Rugby, Six Nations

LONDON -- Conor O'Shea has not got another fiendish animal up his sleeve for England.

Last year, Italy bamboozled Eddie Jones' side with their ruck-less tactic, nicknamed 'the fox', and trailed by just two points after 60 minutes. But ask O'Shea about that game and the confusion which ensued are not his opening memories.

"Everyone focused on five or six occasions when we did something different," O'Shea told ESPN. "What I thought was lost was our performance that day, the heart, the will, the desire not to roll over."

A little under a year on, as he sits assessing Italy's prospects ahead of his second Six Nations in charge of the Azzurri, he is looking to the horizon, with a finger on the present and a nod to lessons learnt from the past.

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His vision for Italian rugby, having taken up the post in the summer of 2016, is to turn them into a formidable force capable of challenging the world's best on a regular basis, but he does not have a 'bacchetta magica' to change the sport overnight. Improvements are methodical and gradual. With his contract up after the 2019 Rugby World Cup, he wants to leave behind a generation of players who can grow together, and then bring through the next batch. Success will not be immediate; sport simply does not allow a 'magic wand'.

"It's hard because you want the energy of wins, but you're not coming into this with ego," O'Shea said. Instead, if Italy endure a tough Six Nations then he has told the players he will put himself in the firing line. "People look at the immediate, that's fine -- that's the world we live in. People will look at statistics, my job is to take the pain for that. We focus on the process we're putting in place."

Italy are used to being underdogs heading into the championship. But there is something bubbling away quite nicely. Their two sides in the PRO14 -- Zebre and Treviso -- are progressing, the depth of coaching knowledge in the country has improved, and a new group of players are coming through. O'Shea's eyes light up as he rolls off their back-row options. "That's the bit that gets me, when you start seeing that sort of depth happening, you begin to feel you can make rapid progress."

While the player pathway is bearing fruit -- he talks as animatedly about any position -- he is trying to build an Italian style. Though he has recruited the brilliant Wayne Smith on a consultancy basis, Smith will be in camp before their summer tour and November Tests, and he does not want Italy to try and play like the All Blacks.

"We have to find an Italian identity and it's based our fitness levels, physicality and flair," O'Shea said. "I liken it to the Italian football teams who we grew up watching in the 1980s and 90s who used to go to World Cups. They'd have an unbelievable defence, like [Dino] Zoff and [Gianluigi] Buffon, they'd have the Maldinis of this world and then up front they'd have a [Toto] Schillaci, a [Paolo] Rossi or [Roberto] Baggio. It's getting that marriage. You'd have that tough defence but then the flair and magic. The Italian word is 'equilibrio'."

That style could be personified by the great, ageless, Sergio Parisse. It is hard to think of a more influential player in a team sport than the man who has played 129 times for Italy. He bought into O'Shea's vision from the outset and has been integral in getting across expectations to the group, while driving standards. Parisse has a deep affinity for Italian rugby, but it is unlikely to be rewarded with a Six Nations' champions medal. Instead O'Shea hopes Parisse's sense of achievement will be apparent in the future.

"I've said to Sergio many times, but in 10 years' time we want to be going to Rome, watching a strong, competitive Italian side and we'll have started that process."

And so to this year's Six Nations. Italy will be a blend of old and new. Young talent will be blooded alongside the seasoned veterans and more experienced players. It is a balancing act, the 'equilibrio' O'Shea talks of, with risk weighed up against reward. "We might weaken our set piece by selecting A, but we get more in attack or on the ground. We might weaken our defence by picking a certain player, but we improve our attack. We now control some of these changes we're making and some of the players we're identifying through the system to do that."

He knows that if they lose all five, then the annual debate over Six Nations relegation-promotion and justification rears its head. "I know people will look at the stats and start talking the usual tripe about whether Italy should be in the Six Nations, that's life, you get on with it." But there is an excitement about what lies ahead, as he frequently turns back to the talent in their ranks. It plays into that NFL adage of 'any given Sunday'; Italy can, have and plan to threaten a shock.

But equally there is realism about the demands of the championship. "It's hard, very hard. It's one of the reasons you need that depth. It's a brutal six weeks mentally and physically. We as a group, we want to be unbelievably competitive and hopefully something special can happen during this year's Six Nations."

On Sunday, in the teasing early spring sun in Rome, Italy face England, a team they have never beaten. The 'fox' is shelved into times past, an identity emerging in its place. O'Shea is realistic and knows if Italy play at their best and England hit peak form, Eddie Jones' side will win. Jones is expecting a "mischievous" Italy, even bringing in tactics used during the Cold War for the unpredictable. But, according to O'Shea, there won't be mischievousness but instead heart, and a tough, imaginative, passionate team.

"We're just going to show some exciting talent we have emerging. We'll hopefully ask some questions that weren't quite expected of us," O'Shea said. "There's a work-rate and a desire. I'm excited for the future of Italian rugby but as I keep on saying to the players, our future is now. Our future is never two, four, six years' time -- a lot of this team will be around in six or eight years' time and they can grow into something very, very formidable.

"I think we're getting there quicker than people think but fully aware that if people want a headline, an immediate result then they'll get an opportunity at some stage to have a go.

"We know we're on the right path. A journey in sport is not supposed to be easy, if it was easy then everyone would do it. We have to have a group of people who are willing to admit that. There will be some dark, tough times but I know that we are doing the right things."

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