Bergamasco: Azzuri are ready for Ireland

ITALIAN centre Mirco Bergamasco last night vowed his side wouldn’t be overawed by Brian O’Driscoll and company in Saturday’s Six Nations opener at Croke Park.

And he revealed that their pre-World Cup loss to Ireland ‘sticks in my throat.’

Said the centre: “O’Driscoll and (Gordon) D’Arcy have been one of the best centre partnerships in the world for years.

“But we’ll try to play against them in the same way we always have.

“They were in peak form for the Dublin match in 2006 and we managed to trouble for them for long periods.

“We lost, but we hurt them and we stopped them coming through 99% of the time,” added Bergamasco.

He also expects the experience he and his team mates have of playing Irish sides in the Heineken Cup to show Saturday.

“We know them all well because half play at Leinster, half play at Munster and then there are a few spread in other clubs,” said the Stade Francais star.

The sides last clashed in a World Cup warm-up in Ravenhill where the Azzurri lost 23-20 after a controversial Ronan O’Gara try in stoppage time.

“That defeat sticks in my throat,” he said. “Each game is its own story and we hope to do something different this time, something that isn’t the usual honourable defeat by two, three or four points.”

The centre revealed Italy’s poor showing at France 2007 had caused friction within the squad yet insisted the arrival of new coach Nick Mallett had helped restore harmony: “The serenity we had during last year’s Six Nations has returned. There is a desire to get back to competition and put what happened behind us.”

Former Springboks coach Mallett has made major changes with Sergio Parisse taking the captaincy from Gloucester lock Marco Bortolami and dropping fly-half Ramiro Pez.

Mallett heaped praise on Eddie O’Sullivan’s side: “They have got wonderful individual players, world class players in O’Driscoll, O’Gara and Stringer. They have good, strong, fast backs. If they play the way Munster played against Wasps (in the Heineken Cup) last week, they’ll be tough to beat.”

Mallett also refused to be drawn into speculation as to whether under-pressure Ireland coach O’Sullivan’s position is in peril.

He said: “I don’t want to comment on other coaches, I have enough difficulties myself in Italy.”