Italy v New Zealand: THE VENUE has dominated pre-match media hype, the Italians moving out of their traditional home of the Stadio Flaminio in Rome to the soccer mecca of the San Siro stadium in Milan.
It’s apparently an 80,000 sell-out, suggesting that Warren Gatland might have been mistaken when he ventured that the Kiwis have lost some of their aura.
In fairness he was referring to invincibility rather than box office. Italy demonstrated a gritty defensive resilience in losing 27-6 in New Zealand last June, but the All Blacks have a Tri-Nations under their belt and won’t be blowing away the seasonal cobwebs.
The Italians love the bruising physicality of the contact areas, particularly the scrum, and that allied to a rolling maul and kicking is where they’ll go after the visitors. Much will depend on their Australian-born outhalf Craig Gower and the latest man, Tito Tebaldi, to fill the massive void left by Alessandro Troncon.
The home side will bring passion and intensity but it will be useless unless it is focused correctly. They have one of the best players in the world in Sergio Parisse, but one suspects they lack creativity. Most likely in victory we’ll see the extent of the depth in New Zealand rugby.
