When the outcome of the field does not tell the whole story

Two years ago Ireland-Italy at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin had ended 36-0, with no story. The match of the 2026 edition of the Six Nations, although Italia still lost (20 to 13 at the final whistle), could not tell a more different story. The Azzurri were in the game for the entire 80 minutes, they finished ahead in the first half, they even 'risked' a draw at the last minute and if they had won it would not have been a stroke of luck or an impromptu exploit. "Surely we are still not able to play a game without mistakes, but I am more than proud of this game, of what the boys did because two years ago we lost 36-0, we could not compete. Last year we were able to compete against them at home and today" even though "we were missing two three players among those who are more used to playing at international level it was a great performance by Italia," stressed Italia coach Gonzalo Quesada. "Obviously there's no victory, so it hurts and there are many small things we can do better, but today it's much more the positive points," the coach continued, taking care to say that he doesn't want to talk about the "negative points" because "I don't want the many positive points to be lost".

With the performance Italy put in, a victory could have come and, however, Quesada said, "I don't think I'm frustrated or sad, I can only say bravo to the boys," insisting that this match "I think we will need it to continue building our progression, our growth, because there are really still signs of growth. For captain Michele Lamaro, "it's really incredible the consistency with which we faced these 80 minutes, the consistency with which we faced the past 80 minutes (last week in the match we won against Scotland, ed)," adding that "it's a beautiful performance but, in my opinion, what makes it even more beautiful is the fact that we managed to be consistent in what we want to do.

An unmistakable sign of growth and improvement, for Lamaro, is also to be found in the fact that Italia manages to be competitive even when it is not 100 per cent, as it was not today due to some mistakes in key moments. 'In the past, to be able to compete, to be able to perform we had to be 100 per cent, right at the limit of what is humanly possible. What is the fact? That being able to be 100 per cent in every game is really something very difficult. And that is the key to today's game and last week's game," Lamaro explained. "It wasn't perfect, but we played a good game, putting in what we had to put in, taking advantage of certain opportunities, putting pressure on Ireland, playing not perfectly, but we achieved a stability of performance that allows us - even if we are not 100 per cent - to arrive at the end in a position to tie the game and almost win it.

Now it's time to look ahead to the next match: 'What we have done now is worth nothing, what counts is what we will do next week against France,' continued Lamaro who, however, acknowledged that 'there is some bitterness because we felt we could have done it. In the same vein was hooker Giacomo Nicotera who, leaving the field, admitted that 'obviously there is a bit of bitterness from this game' but 'nothing, we move forward, always forward'.