(fonte planetrugby.com)

The era of Nick Mallett has begun and Italy have moved a little step forward again. Progress at a snail's pace is better than no progress at all, and Italy have to keep looking at the bright side.

It's been a rough ride for the Azzurri since they joined the Six Nations. Originally cannon fodder for the other five, the team has come on in leaps and bounds initially, and now is much more involved in a process of fine-tuning than of striving to...

Roma – Rompete le righe per la Nazionale Italiana Rugby all’indomani della sconfitta subita ieri a Cardiff nella terza giornata dell’RBS 6 Nazioni 2008. I ventiquattro azzurri convocati dal CT Nick Mallett per la trasferta gallese hanno fatto rientro in serata ai rispettivi club di appartenenza. Nei prossimi giorni il Commissario Tecnico renderà note le convocazioni per le partite con Francia (9 marzo a Parigi)e Scozia (15 marzo a Roma), ultimi appuntamenti del Torneo. Raduno a Roma, presso il Park...

One lucky Wales player will coax a smile out of Shaun Edwards today, along with the gift of two bottles of champagne for his part in Saturday's rout of Italy in Cardiff. Then the familiar scowl will return and the flak will fly once more.

Such intentional mood swings typify the environment which is driving the Dragons towards the RBS Six Nations title and possibly even a Grand Slam.

There are frowns and laughs in equal measure. Humility and humour sit side by side....

Nick Mallett may have an extra headache when he prepares for his team's Six Nations matches against France and Scotland over the next three weeks, after two of his most influential players were cited.

Carlo Del Fava and Mauro Bergamasco are the ones to have fallen foul of the Citing Commissioner Peter Brown's eye during the 8-47 defeat to Wales on Saturday.

Both have been cited for separate unspecified incidents of foul play during the match, and will appear before...

Warren Gatland made six changes for Wales' RBS 6 Nations clash with Italy - and then challenged the newcomers not to make him look stupid.
In an unusual move, Gatland has replaced the entire front row and both half-backs from the 30-15 victory over Scotland a fortnight ago.

Llanelli Scarlets duo Stephen Jones and Dwayne Peel, who came off the bench together against Scotland and guided Wales to victory, both get their first chance to impress Gatland from the start.
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