Michele Lamaro reveals how Italy changed their Six Nations narrative - Hope to win title one day

Throughout much of the late 2010s and into the early 2020s, there was plenty of demand for Italy to be removed from the tournament, as Georgia showcased themselves as potential Six Nations candidates. There was ample support for a relegation and promotion system be introduced with the Rugby Europe Championship, to make up for Italy's record 18 campaigns as bottom placed finishers.

However, the tide has since turned for the Azzurri, with the catalyst often credited to the 2022 triumph over Wales, which finally snapped a 36-match Six Nations losing streak that dated back to 2017. Italy have since made a nice habit of handing Wales an annual defeat, and took Scotland's scalp in round one to blow the tournament wide open. Italy captain Michele Lamaro gave a resounding post-match reaction, as he has witnessed a complete shift in perspective upon his side's place within the Six Nations.

“This is my fifth year as captain in the Six Nations, and I remember my first year [2021]: the main question was, ‘what do you think about Italy leaving the Six Nations?’ I've never believed that in a couple of years, you can change things up too much. I always have a very humble mindset. Because I know how much it takes to get to that level, to be able to come here and to perform, and to be really able to compete against an unbelievable team like Ireland.

“Perception means a lot, even for us, and that's exactly what Gonzalo [Quesada] was trying to say, about the belief that we've created. It's something that I didn't grow up with. I grew up with the fact of us being last at the table. That's the thing I'm most proud about. Now, an 18-year years old young kid is coming through and I'm thinking, ‘Oh, my God, I'm playing with a with a bunch of guys that might be able to win the championship one day’.

Heading into the match, Ireland head coach Andy Farrell expressed how this was the finest Italian team that had ever come to Dublin, as the visitors hoped to bag their first ever win in the Irish capital. Whilst Italy were unsuccessful in their efforts for a historic first win, they certainly took Ireland to the limit, as an in-form Azzurri led for the most part against a transitional Ireland team.

Lamaro expressed how he is sympathetic towards the Ireland team, who now find themselves in a similar dip from their previous highs. Having bagged back-to-back Six Nations Grand Slams as recently as 2023 and 2024, Ireland;s opening round hammering to France was a stark reminder as to how unforgiving the Six Nations can be, should I side enter the competition a step away from their very best.

“Teams get constantly ups and downs." Lamaro added. "Ireland obviously lost a little bit of their confidence that they had in the last couple of years and we wanted to take advantage. We knew that if in the first 20 minutes, we put them under scoreboard pressure, it would have been very difficult for them.

“I've been in that situation before, around mindsets. It's tough because you have to perform. You have to be the team you got in front. If you're down after 20-30 minutes it becomes a real pain. At the same time, they [Ireland] have some unbelievable players that they are really tough to play against. They showed today how much they care for this group, they care for this for this country. You always expect Ireland to be a top world-class team.

“But, ups and downs happens to every single team in the world. So, at the moment, They haven't been what they want to be. I'm pretty of that, and I'm sure as well they have all the abilities to get back.”

Italy head coach Gonzalo Quesada is now approaching the half-way point upon his third Six Nations campaign at the helm of the side. The former Argentina fly half expressed plenty of pride about his side's performance in Dublin, as despite Ireland's recent pitfalls, the magnitude of the match felt the same.

"The last minutes of the game, you can feel that we were close, at least to deserve maybe a draw. But, I am also aware of that we are playing in Dublin against Ireland and the size of this team in every sense of the word. My main emotion, or feeling, is a lot of pride in the team.

"As Michele [Lamaro] was saying, we didn't do a perfect game, there's a lot of players that some time ago, some people felt were really irreplaceable in this team. They are not there and the team is performing. So there's a lot of positives, a team that respected a plan, that was close to at least a draw.

“The main goal was to be consistent. We've been talking about that for months now. Two performances in a row, competing, being consistent. Of course, maybe it was not enough to win today. There's a lot of little mistakes that didn't help us either. But my main feeling is pride and satisfaction with the team.”