Brendan Gallagher catches up with Italy boss Conor O’Shea

Conor O’Shea has been moving house this week and barring ferry delays, French customs getting moody and removal vans getting lost en route to Italy, will be settled into his new family home just outside Verona in time for lunch. His Italian adventure is well and truly underway and although it’s very early days so far so good. In fact it could scarcely have gone better.
Last month he took a predominantly young Italian team on tour to South and North America and they bounced back in fine style after their calamitous end to the Six Nations. A narrow 30-24 defeat against the Pumas in Santa Fe and victories over the USA and Canada represented a welcome steadying of the ship. In fact having finally had time to catch his breath the former Quins boss believes it was rather more than that.
“By the end I was more convinced than ever that this group – with some older hands to come in and a number of promising youngsters on the way up – have it in them to become the best Italian team ever,” O’Shea said. “On a par with or better than that terrific Italian team of the late 90s which I played against. Before my appointment I was optimistic but now I know for a fact that we can achieve that.
“There is absolutely no need for any despondency from anybody about the state of Italian rugby. In fact it’s a very exciting time, Italy are gong to be OK. It might not happen overnight, there is a lot of stuff we need to put in place, but it’s it’s not something that is a million miles away either. Get everything in place and everybody revved up and pointing in the right direction and things can flip around in sport. You only have to look at England since the New Year to appreciate that.
“Despite a long, disappointing season for some of the Italian lads there was a fantastic commitment and camaraderie on tour. The fires still burn and it was very infectious. If I’m honest I was pretty tired myself after a long season with Quins but within days of landing in Argentina the spirit of the lads had rejuvenated me as well.
“Of course there is a stack of things that must be fixed, we all know that. A number of players need to get much fitter because you simply can’t carry players at Test level, it affects the entire team with others taking on too big a workload to compensate. We also need to start building some real strength in depth because it was an horrendous injury list and lack of sufficient cover that ultimately saw Italy fail at the end of the Six Nations.
“And Treviso and Zebre need to start winning their fair share of matches in the Pro 12. Italian players badly need to experience what it takes to win on a regular basis – the levels of day-in and day-out professionalism and attention to detail – as opposed to the occasional random triumph. There is no reason why our two flagship senior clubs can’t become winning teams. Others in the same boat have climbed the ladder and succeeded.”
One suspects that O’Shea will have used the example of Connacht – serial losers themselves for many years – when addressing those who argue the odds are stacked against Italian clubs.
Connacht aren’t blessed with the best facilities, the biggest budget or the largest squad but by sheer bloody minded persistence and belief  – and the arrival of an inspirational figure in Pat Lam – they have kicked the door down and taken their place at top table.
From his new home O’Shea will be situated equidistant from Treviso just outside Venice and Zebre which is in Parma. Hopefully the Italian Federation still have a contract with Jaguar – because he will be spending a good deal of every working week shuttling up and down the E70 forming close and vital working partnerships with the respective directors of rugby. Kieran Crowley – recently arrived from his job as the Canada national coach – is now in charge at Treviso and and Gianluca Guidi at Zebre.
Very little can happen without these two experienced campaigners coming fully on board. If O’Shea, for example, wants three or four nominated players to improve their fitness levels by, say 30 per cent, that work has to be accomplished primarily at the clubs.
If he needs a key player rested to protect a knock or to start in a different positon he must be able to pick up the phone and talk instantly to the two club supremoes. The world of elite rugby in Italy is a small one and has its disadvantages but small can also be beautiful and O’Shea and his coaching team must make that work for them.
Italy’s collapse – no other word really suffices – at the end of the Six Nations is perhaps clouding our view of their potential and has of course sparked much debate about whether Georgia should be introduced into the Six Nations at the expense of Italy although that is something of a red herring. It’s not a case of Italy or Georgia, the question under debate should be simply the right of the top team in EN1 to play off against the bottom team in the Six Nations at the end of every season. That bottom team might not necessarily be Italy. O’Shea is utterly convince about that.
“There were all sorts of positives on tour. I saw definite signs of the forwards beginning to reclaim the reputation of Italian packs being solid scrummages, slick line-out operators with a strong maul game. Somewhere, somehow, that went missing over the last two or three years.
“In the back row Simone Favaro is a massive player going forward after taking a year out of Test rugby to concentrate on making a success of his move to Glasgow where he was their player of the season. Simone is a terrific modern day 7 and that’s important for us because I am convinced Italy have a back division that can start causing problems and we will need a 7 who can make his presence felt at the breakdowns.
“Edorado Gori is right up there as a Test level scrum-half and if we can give him a better platform you will see more of him in attack. Fly-half has been a ‘problem area’ but no more. Both Carlo Canna and Tomasso Allen can do a great job and are such good footballers they could double up elsewhere if required.
“Campo – Michele Campagnaro – is one of the most exciting centre talents I’ve seen for a while and Italy haven’t made best use of Leonardo Sarto in attack so far. He’s a class player. David Odiete came from nowhere last season and he can play wing and full-back and other positions as well. Angelo Esposito is another talent, Luke McLean is only just 30 and we have a few very good juniors. Cattie (backs coach Mike Catt) can’t wait to get started in earnest.”
With all this youthful optimism around you would hope and expect some of the more experienced players such as Sergio Parisse, Josh Furno, Alessandro Zanni, Leandro Ghiraldini and George Bagi – all resting this summer – will have picked up the vibe and return much refreshed. With New Zealand and South Africa first up in the autumn Italy need all available hands to the pumps.
O’Shea will be sitting down with Parisse, left, this month for a debrief and a chat about the future but, still only 32 and relatively injury free, the great man still surely return to the fray with a spring in his step.
“If anybody in world rugby deserved a complete break it is Sergio, he has been unbelievable for Italy for 13 or 14 seasons on the hoof and also carries a huge workload with Stade. He is one of the three or four truly great rugby talents I have witnessed in my life in rugby and I am looking forward immensely to working with him.
“I view New Zealand as the ideal first home fixture. We have nothing to lose. I just ask that we empty the tanks and at the end of 80 minutes we’ll know exactly where we stand as a team.”