Italians back to basics as Mallett plays it safe

LAST WEEK Nick Mallett took the biggest gamble of his international rugby coaching career in the Six Nations opener at Twickenham — and lost.

Choosing open side flank forward Mauro Bergamasco as a specialist scrum-half turned out to be an unmitigated disaster and it played a huge role in Italy’s demise.

Mallett admits he knew he had made the blunder inside 20 minutes, but by the time he decided to call Bergamasco ashore at half time, Italy had leaked 22 points and the game was over as a contest.