The selector of the under 20: “Not only victories, we have seen the improvement of everyone. The boys need a common line. The National team? I would like to but I still have a year of contract”
The Italrugby under 20 finished the Summer Series in third place, beating England in the final for the lowest step of the podium, after having missed the chance to play the final against South Africa by only 3 points against Wales. In any case, the 2022 of the Azzurri is of the highest level: 6 victories in 9 games between Six Nations and Summer Series, with two victories against England, two more against Scotland and one against Wales and Georgia. A result achieved thanks to a group with talent and character and the work of coach Massimo Brunello, who has once again shown that he knows how to help young Italian talents grow and improve.
Brunello, in the end is there more satisfaction for beating England or regret for missing a final that seemed within reach?
“I think that the result obtained with England has sealed a special season, made them” super “. We are satisfied with our tournament, because we have confirmed the potential that we had already seen at the Six Nations. however, they allowed us to give other guys the opportunity to express themselves, we saw a constant improvement on the part of everyone, and this was our goal “.
With England the game was very different than in February, much more played ball in hand …
“It was a different game because we were different too, now we can play more and be more effective, even if in defense there is still something to improve. The English have put us in difficulty, and even if this year we never took a drive goal, when they reached 5 meters they always managed to score with the pick & go, and that’s something we have to work on “.
The successes of the under 20 in recent years are often a counterbalance to the difficulties of the senior national team. What’s the problem?
“First of all, even if the under 20s have always done well in the various years, we must give credit to the boys and the staff because this was a year out of the category as results obtained. As for the senior national team, there is a problem of transition from the youth level to the senior level: it is on that phase that we have to work. Going into detail becomes difficult, but in the last 5 years there have also been 5-6 boys in blue per year, so there has always been a good turnover at the level of numbers. The problem is that the players grow well but then we can’t turn them into effective resources for the senior national team. So it means that something is not working in the transition. ”
But this year the various Marin, Menoncello, Alessandro Garbisi, Albanese have already come out …
“Yes, but in addition to getting them to the blue, we need to make them effective at Seniores level, and on the boys we need to have a unique line of thought and a precise idea on the path that we must take to each player, in terms of playing time, employment and role. Especially as regards the children who play in Italy, which Fir can constantly monitor “.
In any case, in the Six Nations we saw very different performances from those seen in Lisbon and Batumi. What happened on this summer tour in your opinion?
“It is always difficult to get into team dynamics, but we had already struggled in November against Uruguay. I know many guys in this group very well and I have trained them, and I don’t think they take the opponent under their feet, but a few bells. We had already seen the alarm against the South Americans and Portugal, with whom we managed to bring home the game. Against Georgia it didn’t happen and there really wasn’t a chance to win “.
Maybe it’s also a technical question? Against stronger teams we defend and play a throw-in, so we are not used to having a lot of time with the ball in hand …
“It is not to be excluded, on the contrary, we too had this problem with the under 20s. With the ball in hand we are not very cynical and we realize less than we create, because we are not always able to manage possession in the right way and we are not used to be dominant “.
Returning to the under 20, despite the many absences, including the captain Ferrari, this group has found a new leader in Ross Vintcent. How was his path?
“We knew Vintcent well from last year, and he had already done well at the Six Nations 2021. At this year’s Six Nations he was one of the vice-captains, and when Giacomo (Ferrari, ed) was operated on, we immediately thought of him as the leader of the group. It was not a surprise for us, and this is demonstrated by the fact that all the players expressed themselves at their best, also managing to make up for some shortcomings compared to better equipped teams. This happened because the captain and the leaders of the locker room managed to create a real family. ”
There was also talk of her as a possible successor to Kieran Crowley at the helm of the senior national team, after the World Cup. Have you ever talked about it with Fir? Would you like it?
“No, I haven’t talked to Fir about it and I think it’s just rumors. I have another year of contract with the under 20 and my goal is to give continuity to the work that has been done up to now. I would like it, as any Italian coach would like (laughs, ed). In reality, I “cheer” for Italian coaches in general, and if one day one of them were to arrive on the bench of the national team I would be very happy, even if it wasn’t me. Not because the foreign technicians are not up to par, on the contrary, they are very well prepared, but in my opinion an Italian technician could do well “.
July 28, 2022 (change July 28, 2022 | 18:24)
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