The coach explains his formation choices and believes in the team: “No one expects almost anything from us in this match in terms of results, but we live our history and prepare without listening”
Gonzalo Quesada – ph. Sebastiano Pessina
After the announcement of the Italy and Ireland squads for the match that will see them in front of the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on the second day of the 2024 Six Nations, the head coach of the Azzurri Gonzalo Quesada spoke in a press conference about his choices in view of the competition.
“We wanted to give as much continuity as possible in the choices. The plan for this match was not to make many substitutions, but injuries forced us to make more than expected. On the other hand, they give other players the opportunity to show off.”
“We were only able to confirm Tommaso Allan on the match list yesterday – said Quesada, who chose Ange Capuozzo as the starting goalkeeper, moving the Perpignan player to the bench – He took a hard blow to the shoulder in a late tackle last Saturday, but he was able to train for several days, he never made contact during the week. Yesterday, however, he had positive feelings in the training session and so we decided to bring him to the bench because we think he could be important to finish the match well.”
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“We chose a bench with 5 forwards and 3 attacking midfielders because going with 6 and 2 without another number 10 seemed too big a risk. We also know that it will be a match with a very high intensity. Lorenzo Pani, Monty Ioane and Tommaso Menoncello worked hard in the last game and will have to work even harder in the next one, so bringing three midfielders on the bench seemed like the best choice.”
The coach recognized the differences in the match between England and Ireland, citing the different type of foot play played by the team coached by Andy Farrell: “They kick 75/80% of the time to find a throw-in or to go long and in the field, while England arrive at almost 80% of their kicks to contest possession in reception. It will be another match, they are very good at setting up long sequences and have very skilled forwards, with great individual technique.”
“We prepared to express our rugby and try to have the ball more. During the week we worked on conquest and aerial reception. We tried to put even more details into the defense: sometimes we were in difficulty with the width of the pitch, because we put a lot of energy in the meeting point area and too many players on the closed side. Normal mistakes for a first release, but which we cannot repeat. If we leave time and possession to Ireland it will be a very difficult afternoon. In particular we worked to move up faster after the fifth and sixth defender. With possession we want to replicate the match against England.”
When asked about the choices in the third line and in the midfield, Quesada wanted to start by expressing praise towards those who will not play this match: “Riccardo Favretto did two very interesting weeks of work in training. He can also play number 8, he is a jumper. He was very close to being on the team.”
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“Michele [Lamaro] he has a level of experience, a knowledge of the game and an awareness of his own means that will not affect his change of position, he has the qualities to play the third center in an orderly scrum, while around the pitch everything else does not change – he has the coach continued, moving on to analyze the profiles of the selected players – Manuel Zuliani didn’t start the match last week because he hadn’t played much recently, he has a finger injury that would put many other players out. Player who will bring his physicality, his ability to dominate contact and who will be important in the fundamental task of slowing down their rucks. With the ball he will also have to take on part of the ball carrier duties, given the absences of Lorenzo Cannone and Seb Negri.”
“Alessandro Izekor: a starting start that comes quickly for him, the challenge will be to put all his energy on the pitch and play a particular role in the defensive and offensive structures, but we have faith in him.”
“Ross Vintcent is perhaps the smallest size-wise, but he has something physically impressive in terms of quickness. He is humble, proud to be here, hardworking, he impressed everyone. When the team was announced he received a real standing ovation from the other players, who had already made him appreciate him. We think that with his qualities he can make a difference a little further away from the contact patch, compared to what he does at Exeter. Like Zuliani, Lucchesi and Nicotera he will be important to try to recover balls in the ruck.”
“I was very clear with the three number 9s, speaking to them last week, and I intend to be consistent. Last week we chose Ale Garbisi because he had done the entire two weeks of preparation and knows very well a scrum package which is almost completely that of his club. This time we chose Stephen Varney, who was first choice in the role almost always in the national team. He deserves like Alessandro to have his opportunity, and to be completely clear Ale already knew that even if he had been the best on the pitch last week Stephen would have been the starter in this match. I can already say that Martin Page-Relo will definitely have an important role against France. I believe a lot in this aspect: we chose Varney ahead of Page-Relo for England because it is where Stephen plays and it had an important value for him, the same will be for Martin against his country of origin. For me the level of our three midfielders is very close and we have a real competitive situation. Everyone will have the opportunity, then the best will make the shirt their own.”
Finally, a thought on Sunday’s match: “No one expects almost anything from us in this match in terms of results, but we live our history and prepare without listening.”
“We know we are playing against an incredibly strong, experienced and confident team. But everything we do is to be mentally in the game for 80 minutes in all possible scenarios. We never want to be on the field feeling like we don’t have a chance. And I feel that there will be a match and I take the risk of saying it.”
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