Maybe it’s not too late to back out, Con.
While it is being reported as fact in some quarters, Conor O’Shea’s appointment as the next coach Italy is yet to be confirmed by the former Ireland full-back or the FIR.
That might be a blessing in disguise for the man who is leaving his position as Harlequins director of rugby at the end of the current Premiership season.
Sat in the RTÉ studio watching his potential future charges concede nine tries to an Ireland side that had managed just two in their previous three Tests, O’Shea might have been asking serious questions about his future career path.
Even allowing for a surfeit of injuries this was abysmal from the Azzurri, who as recently as 2013 stuck a dagger in the heart of Declan Kidney’s Ireland reign with a win in Rome.
The inclusion of two club players, full-back David Odiete (above) and wing Mattia Bellini, spoke volumes for regional outfits Zebre and Treviso, who are wallowing in the nether regions of the PRO12.
Outgoing Italy coach Jacques Brunel admitted Saturday’s performance represented a complete systems failure for a team who seriously put the wind up France on the opening weekend, before falling to England and Scotland in rounds two and three.
“We know Ireland, we have faced them many times over the years,” said Brunel. “They are the kind of team that if you give them time and space they can show all their qualities. During the week we worked on slowing them down but we failed to do that today.”
Captain and talisman Sergio Parisse (above), who looked a shadow of his former, world-class self at the Aviva, was asked if Italy, after a 58-15 defeat, are still deserving of automatic qualification for the Six Nations.
Having only finished bottom once in the last three seasons it seems a little hasty to be booting the Azzurri out to make room for Georgia – a point that was made by Parisse.
“This is a question that you get asked when you lose matches like this, ‘Do Italy deserve to play in this tournament?’,” said the Stade Francais No8. “When you see what we did in the past, like against Ireland a couple of years ago, I think Italy still deserve to be in this tournament.”
At 32, Parisse is undoubtedly the leader of this team and he instructed his team-mates to learn from this chastening defeat.
“My team need to learn from matches like this one today, this was a very bad defeat. It is everyone’s fault, we need to understand this and learn from this,” he said.
“You know me very well now, I hate losing but I am going to keep things positive I know I need to be positive for my team and I’m sure we will have success in the future.”
Will O’Shea be on board for this future success is the question.
