"Ultimately, we want to play as well as we can and score as many tries as possible," captain Jason White said.
"We need to put in a really good marker in this match, which is the first of three games at home this autumn, as we start the buildup to the World Cup next year."
AFP, ROME
Italy coach Pierre Berbizier believes today's Test match against Australia will gauge how far his team have come since he took the reins 18 months ago.
"We are taking on the only country to win the World Cup twice and it will help us evaluate where we are at," said the former France scrum-half.
Italy were thrashed 69-21 by the Wallabies in Melbourne in Berbizier's third game in charge, but the Frenchman insisted his team had come a long way since then.
"We have grown a lot since then and we will definitely be more competitive," said the 48-year-old who scored seven tries in his 56 internationals for France and then coached his country at the 1995 World Cup. "The squad is young but very enthusiastic. I feel we are certainly going in the right direction."
Australia coach John Connolly, whose side are ranked fourth in the world, eight places ahead of Italy, will not be underestimating the Azzurri despite their last-placed finish in the 2006 Six Nations.
"There's no doubt Italy have improved greatly under Berbizier," he said. "I felt their results didn't reflect their performances at the Six Nations. They played very well against Ireland but lost, and they could have beaten Wales but drew."
RSS