Late tomorrow in the bowels of Otago Stadium, Nick Mallett will either be feted as Italy’s newest sporting hero or shake hands with his players for the final time as the curtain falls on his four-year stint as the country’s rugby coach.
Whether overjoyed by Italy reaching the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time or crushed by the pain of defeat in their decisive final pool game against Ireland, the proud and likable South African will walk away with his head held high.
“History will tell only once you’ve been away for a while, whether you’ve been a successful coach or not, but in terms of the relationship I have with the team and the staff, it’s been a great four years,” Mallett said yesterday at the team’s hotel.
Photo: AFP
“I’ve enjoyed the last two years probably as much as I’ve enjoyed coaching any team,” added the 54-year-old, who will reluctantly move aside after the World Cup to be replaced by Frenchman Jacques Brunel.
Having tasted enormous success at club and national level with Stade Francais and his native South Africa, Mallett took something of a professional risk when he became Italy coach after the 2007 World Cup.
Knowing he was destined to lose a lot more than he would win did not deter him, though, and during his spell in charge he has lifted the country to new heights, not least their first Six Nations victory over France earlier this year.
Now he stands on the brink of taking the next step — if they can find a way to beat Ireland for the first time in 16 attempts tomorrow.
On paper it looks unlikely, but buoyed by their Rome Six Nations clash in February when Ireland needed a late Ronan O’Gara drop-goal to snatch a 13-11 win, Mallett says there is a new mentality around his adopted nation.
“A lot of times in the past they’ve been disappointed to lose, but pleased to run the opposition close, but there was genuine disappointment they hadn’t managed to hold out and win that game,” he said.
“It meant the team had started to believe it wasn’t just good enough to be competitive, it was really important to win the tight games. That experience helped us against France when we got into a very similar situation, and hung in there and came out with a victory. That’s a mental side of this Italian side that has improved a lot over the four years.” he added.
Mallett led the Springboks to a record-equaling winning run of 17 Tests and to the semi-finals of the 1999 World Cup.
He also took Stade to two French titles and he deserves much of the credit for Italy’s turnaround, having stressed the importance of being measured against the best.
“You’d be disappointed with only nine wins out of 41 games, but we’ve played 11 times against Tri-Nations countries and over 20 times against the Six Nations countries,” he said.
“Not only have we improved in the fact we’ve lost to the top sides by less, but we’ve beaten, on every occasion we can, teams we should have beaten,” he added.
That includes the current tournament, where bonus-point wins over the US and Russia have given Italy, not for the first time, the opportunity to win their final pool game and advance.
“Our whole objective for two years has been to get to this point,” he said.
“If we play really well, which we will have to against a very good team, we have a chance of getting to the quarter-finals ... and there is a genuine belief that we are getting better,” he added.
They are certainly a world away from the teams humiliated 101-3, 70-7 and 76-14 by New Zealand in the last three World Cups.
“The last time we played them in New Zealand we lost 27-6 with a great performance, then we played them in Milan and they’re still a great side, but we lost 20-6 and probably should have had a penalty try,” Mallett said of the 2009 clashes. “We’ve completely turned around the way other teams think about Italy. They used to be confident enough to put their B team in against us. No-one does that against Italy any more.”
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