Connor O'Shea New Italy Coach

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So a four year deal staring with the summer tour against Argentina, USA and Canada. He'll be wanting to win 2 out of three of those games and then build on it in the AI's.

Obviously he's massively handicapped by the terrible state of the Italy club teams in the Pro 12 and by the lack of quality in many positions.

All the best Connor. I hope it doesn't turn out to be a poisoned chalice.

Tbh if I were him I'd have turned it down.

Would have been a good gig for Lancaster

Mike Catt going with him

O'Shea isn't stupid (or would someone like Steve Aboud). FIR have invested hugely in underage rugby (from 16) with something like 24 centres being set up and academies. There is a big plan there.

Pity I can't remember where I read the article, but in 4 years time, I think Italian rugby may have come a long way.

I agree with Sin...

Italian club rugby has taken a huge hit (shambles is not the right word when exterior influences (PRL/LNR) were the direct cause of Italian clubs losing 25+ professional players in one off season), but they have restabalised and are starting to produce players.

The 2 young wings, and scrum half this campaign have proved that although they aren't chruning out world class yet, they are a step in the right direction to developing a strong 15/23. Italy have never produced top quality backs, and the likes of Mclean etc have always plugged that gap, but the new breed seem more capable than before, and in Campagnaro I think they have a superstar in the making!

Cut to O Shea, what pressure does he have to win games? Very little IMHO, the Argentina tour will be a building block, then USA and Canada will be good testing grounds, COS will then start to see what he has, and what he can work with.

I say good luck to him, and will expect to see an immediate turnaround in team performance, as the likes of Castro, Parisse and co start to get replaced by team players who are there to do a job, and thus more effective team going forward.

Big challenge for him it would seem. However, I felt like Brunel had given up a bit this 6N. Italy got thrashed by England, Wales and Ireland, convincingly beaten by Scotland. They did come close to beating France who finished 5th I suppose, but they seemed more competitive last year.

Edoardo Padovani looks pretty decent at flyhalf. Not sure I rate Gori but if they can find a decent scrum half they may be able to open up their backline a bit more. Campagnaro looks like he has a lot of potential and Garcia was playing really well this 6N. Sarto is moving to Glasgow next season joining Favaro so I think he is inheriting a team that have potential to scrape wins in the 6N and beat every team ranked below them.

Yeah good luck to COS.

Hope he can do a good job.

Leonardo Sarto a decent player.

It's Conor, not Connor.

Italy surely can't get any worse, so he has that...

There seemed to be a few stories suggesting he got cold feet. Perhaps that was just a mismatch in expectations.