AT LEAST DEFENCE IS READY FOR AUSSIES

WE knew the Italians would come out firing on all cylinders and make it difficult for us and that's exactly how things worked out in this final World Cup qualifying match.

The big disappointment was our inability to win quicker ball and to create space for our backs to exploit and that remained a problem throughout the game. We always knew the Italians would slow possession down and maybe weren't wise enough to work out a counter to their play as the game progressed.

The opening passages of play go a long way to setting the pattern for the whole game and by not imposing ourselves on the game in the way we wanted, the problems remained and in the end we were very happy to get the win. Nobody should underestimate just how good the Italians are at Test level and the Six Nations championship will be very competitive. We are going to have to look at the match video and be very critical and one of the questions we will have to ask is should we have started rucking people out of the way right from the start? The referee didn't like any boots on bodies and that was evident when we did try that tactic and he blew up for a penalty. It meant we had to commit a lot of bodies to the breakdown to secure ball and in that situation the options for the next phase are limited. We tried to pick up the pace of the game at the end and the penalties still kept on coming, but not the quick ball that is vital for any game plan. They put together some very good passages of play and showed a cohesion and commitment that caused us problems and they will be a handful for any team. Their previous wins over Ireland, Scotland and Argentina are proof of that fact and we can take some consolation from registering a win. One of the plusses for the team was our defence and despite their possession we did not allow Italy a try. That is something we can take forward to the game with Australia at Twickenham on Saturday because their win over France last Saturday has highlighted the dangers the Wallabies pose. We knew that week by week the opposition was going to get harder and now it's the team that finished runners-up in the Tri Nations tournament. Our main focus now will be on ways of generating good possession.

Copyright 1998
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.