Lock the main key in Kirwan's plan

Gerry Thornley talks to the Italy captain who outlines why he believes his side have more reasons to be confident than in the past for the upcoming Six Nations Championship

Last November, John Kirwan risked having Alessandro Troncon throw the toys out of his pram when instead making Marco Bortolami his new long-term captain. But you don't have to spend too long in the company of the 25-year-old lock to understand Kirwan's motives.

Signor Bortolami is an impressive individual. Wheeled along to last week's RBS Six Nations launch at Westminster in London, to the relief and surprise of all his inquisitors Bortolami made the accompanying Italian translator redundant with his command of English, his politeness, and the considered confidence with which he answered questions.

Having come through the ranks of the Italian under-19 and under-21 teams - then being eased into Test rugby with a debut against Namibia in 2001 - Bortolami has long since been earmarked for the role of Azzurri captain. Indeed, even at 22, he became his country's youngest ever captain when leading Italy against the All Blacks three years ago, scoring a try in their 64-10 defeat.

With just three isolated home wins over Scotland (twice) and Wales, as is their custom the Azzurri and their newly-installed captain cannot realistically talk about winning the championship.

"Our target is to improve on our one win of last year, so two or three victories would be good for us," says Bortolami, who nevertheless is mindful that they don't target specific games. "But throughout this target we must play to win every match. We can't concentrate only against Scotland or Wales, we must play every match to win."

Italy's autumn form does not augur especially well, good wins over Canada and the United States undermined by a crushing defeat to the All Blacks.

"We did not play very well in that game," concedes Bortolami, "but as I've said before we had some problems at a mental level. Our players must believe that we can compete with the best teams, and that we can become one of the best teams in the world."

One encouraging sign has been Italy's much improved discipline. In the last two Six Nations' campaigns, the Azzurri incurred only two yellow cards, whereas in the previous two championships they had suffered 11 yellow cards and one red.

"I think in the last year or two we have improved but this is something we must work on every day. With our Latin temperament it is not easy for us," Bortolami concedes with a smile.

The previously high toll of sin-binnings and penalties was in part a reflection of how much time they spent on the back foot but also, undoubtedly, the attitude of officials towards them, which, of course, also feeds the Italian persecution complexes. "Referees, when they referee an Italy match, they think that Italians give away a lot of penalties but maybe sometimes it is not a fair decision," says Bortolami as diplomatically as he can. "But I think we have improved a lot in the last year on this point, we have worked very hard on it, and I am very confident about this for the Six Nations."

As Bortolami sees it (which may be a comment on previous regimes) the key for the Azzurri this year is for players to have belief in their coaches and in themselves. What gives him more confidence than in the past is that this greater belief is palpable and also because "now we have very good backs this year so I think this will be a very good year for Italy". His relationship with Kirwan promises to be more harmonious than the latter's with Troncon. "He (Kirwan) is good because he asks everybody for 100 per cent every day. If you give 90 per cent he's not happy and he'll come to you and tell you that you are not giving 100 per cent, that 99 per cent is not good enough."

History has taught us that the Azzurri are often at their most dangerous on the opening weekend, witness the wins over Scotland and Wales at the same juncture in 2000 and 2003.

"It is good for us to start in Rome but Ireland is a very good team," counters Bortolami. "They have very good results in November, they have a very strong scrum and their lineout is very good. It is not easy to play against Ireland because they have a very complete team in every area so for us it's a good test. I really think this year that Ireland can beat England and France. They have a lot of impact players who can make a difference in every match." Looking ahead to Sunday's game, the Italian skipper observes: "It is very important our lineouts and scrums are very good because every match now in the Six Nations is decided on scrums, lineouts and tactical play, so we must concentrate very hard in this area."