The Scots scored twice in the game's first quarter (the most they'd managed in 80 minutes in seven previous games) and the Italians were up against it. This was the final game of the Championship - Scotland had beaten England a week earlier for their only win, but the Azzurri were going into the match facing a fourth whitewash in nine seasons. It required a late drop-goal from full-back Andrea Marcato - a man who looked set to be a bit of a gem before fading - to nab them the win. 2007 also saw the Italians topple Wales in a far tighter finish as James Hook kicked a penalty to the corner and the referee blew for full time.Ī win over the Scots again, but Italy's triumph in 2008 was a good deal more dramatic than it had been a year earlier, as Scotland chose to show up. From there, it was cruise control for the Italians as they ran out 37-17 winners, with Troncon crossing in the second half. Inside 90 seconds, fly-half Phil Godman had a chip charged down on his own line, with Mauro Bergamasco profiting, before a pair of Chris Cusiter passes - one short and aimed at Rob Dewey, the other long for Hugo Southwell - found Italian hands and the visitors were 21-0 up before most of the crowd were in their seats. Admittedly, this was as much down to Scottish ineptitude as Italian excellence, with the hosts - wearing a vile orange on white jersey - produced a simply horrendous start from which even the world's finest sides wouldn't recover. When they did notch an away win, however, they did it in some style, as they scored three tries in the first six minutes at Murrayfield. Italy have fed off scraps throughout their Six Nations history and they had to play seven seasons before chalking up a win on the road. Dominguez and Troncon were once more a controlling influence, while the front-row bullied Wales and set up and scored tries to create one of those rare days that rugby could trump calcio and claim the back pages as its own. The Italians showed the sorts of vim, vigour, pluck and power that would mark all of their subsequent Six Nations victories. Wales were abject and this was the opening game of a campaign in which a pretty handy set of players (many of whom would win a Grand Slam two years on) were whitewashed. They were supposedly visitors who weren't the force of old, but inspired by Diego Dominguez all the same. I just feel sorry for the Scots, because they got us first."įor all Johnstone's bluster, the Italians had to endure 14 losses before they tasted Six Nations victory again and this one had similarities to the first - a heavily criticised team, with their place in the competition questioned. They were asking questions about our credentials. Some people in Britain were even saying that we shouldn't be in this competition. Italy's new Kiwi coach, Brad Johnstone, was all talk at full-time, saying: "Everyone expected us to be useless. Just months before, they'd conceded a century to the All Blacks at the '99 World Cup. It was a pretty emphatic two fingers to all those who'd questioned the competition's expansion and their right to take part. Appropriately, it was an old hand who swept them to a debut triumph, with 33-year-old fly-half Diego Dominguez kicking 29 points - six penalties, a conversion, two drop-goals and an individual record in the old competition and the new (until Jonny Wilkinson put 35 on the new boys a year later). Italy went in to their first ever game in the Championship 250-1 outsiders to win the competition and up against the champions first. Wins have been hard to come by which has made them very special when they have come around. There's been the atmosphere at Stadios Flaminio and Olimpico, that magnificent anthem, some glorious kits and a whole host of spectacular personalities - Alessandro Troncon, Sergio Parisse and Martin Castrogiovanni, to name but a few. Italy may have been whitewashed last year but their 15 seasons in the Six Nations have been a hell of a lot of fun.
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