Consistency and trust are the no longer blunt weapons of Italrugby

The secret ingredient, which isn’t so secret, of this Italy – which returned to home victory in the Six Nations for the first time since 2013 – was trust. Confidence in one’s own possibilities and abilities. The Azzurri, as coach Gonzalo Quesada said well, «never gave up and had good management of the game».

After a good 20 minutes of the first half of Scotland’s almost absolute dominance, Italy maintained their concentration and managed to get back on track, taking the lead, extending it and then managing the result for the final 31 to 29. «There was a bit of frustration at the beginning but today we remained focused, we all remained clear at all times. We believed in it until the end and we knew we could be competitive”, declared captain Michele Lamaro and Ange Capuozzo confirmed: “We never thought we would lose. We have always believed in it.” It should be underlined, as Quesada himself did, that this team has demonstrated “constancy” and, finally, managed to grow and build.

A victory in a sold out Olympic stadium

Game with Ireland excluded, against Scotland, the Azzurri played better than against England and France and, after the narrow defeat against the English and the historic draw away from home with the Blues – which, if it had not been for a sensational post at the end of time, it would have been another story – a victory arrived, well deserved, against one of the most in form teams of the Six Nations and perhaps one of the best Scottish national teams of recent years, who arrived in Rome «still with the chance to win the tournament,” Quesada recalled. «We have so much potential. We still have room to improve, there are many things we can do better. I don’t think I transformed the team. This is just the beginning and I am proud to have spent many weeks convincing the players what path I thought was best for them”, noted the coach, saying he was “happy for the players and the staff: they work hard and they deserve this victory.” A “special victory, even more important because it was achieved in front of the home crowd, with the Olympic stadium full”, added Capuozzo, referring to the fact that the match was sold out, with 69,689 spectators, of which around 15 thousand were Scottish.

Appointment in Cardiff for the last day

Now his mind is already on the next round on Saturday 16 March, the last of the 2024 Six Nations, when the Azzurri will go to Cardiff to challenge Wales. «We want to finish this Six Nations in the best possible way, it will be a fundamental match. It will be a battle because we don’t want to finish last,” Lamaro said. «The biggest challenge will be next week but we see growth game after game», concluded Quesada.