Mallett: Players convinced history is in the making

ITALY coach Nick Mallett insists his men head to Twickenham convinced they can make history with a first victory over England.

The Azzurri came within minutes of beating Ireland for the first time last Saturday, only for Ronan O’Gara to wreck their dreams with a last-gasp drop goal.

“Only average teams consider defeats as good results, even close defeats,” reflected Italy captain Sergio Parisse.

And Mallett was encouraged by the determined and positive manner in which Italy have responded to last week’s disappointment.

“I am very happy to hear what Sergio said. That game taught us a lesson in how to close out tight matches,” Mallett said.

“It gave us a lot of confidence to know that if we do get things right we can win games.

“We have been trying to improve over the last 18 months and we have built a lot of confidence as a side.

“Every time we play, the team believes they have the ability to win the game. This was borne out by the game against Ireland.

“Beating England at Twickenham is something Italy have never done in the history of their rugby. It would be a fantastic achievement. It wouldn’t be realistic to say we are favourites but we definitely have a better chance tomorrow than we did two years ago.”

Mallet has been forced into a scrum-half change after Pablo Canavosio yesterday informed the Italian management he was short of full fitness and unable to last a whole game.

Treviso’s Fabio Semenzato will now make his Test debut, having only joined the squad last weekend after first-choice scrum-half Eduardo Gori suffered a dislocated shoulder against Ireland. Canavosio will start from the bench.

Italy feature three other changes from the Ireland game, with Luciano Orquera replacing Kristopher Burton at fly-half while Carlo Antonio Del Fava starts at lock Valerio Bernabo comes into the back row.

Meanwhile, Alex Corbisiero will make an unexpected England debut against Italy, the land of his forefathers, after Andrew Sheridan was ruled out with a back injury.

The 22-year-old loose-head prop, whose grandfather emigrated from Naples to New York in the 1950s, had been preparing to play for London Irish against Newcastle this weekend.

But when Sheridan damaged his back in training, England manager Martin Johnson opted to promote the uncapped Corbisiero straight into his starting XV and leave David Wilson on the bench.

Corbisiero will pack down alongside Dylan Hartley and Dan Cole in a front row boasting just 36 caps and an average age of 23, believed to be England’s youngest starting unit ever.

Opposite them will be the gnarled Italian trio of Salvatore Perugini, Leonardo Ghiraldini and Martin Castrogiovanni, who have 181 caps between them.

Corbisiero will be the second England debutant in as many weeks after Northampt on flanker Tom Wood performed impressively in last Friday’s 26-19 victory over Wales.

And Johnson had no qualms about pitching Corbisiero straight into battle with the Italians and their fearsome Leicester tight-head Castrogiovanni.

“We think Alex is a solid character,” said Johnson. “We like solid characters. If you haven’t got the character you can’t go and play out t here.

“That is what you need to be a Test player. It is whether they can handle the pressure and the physicality.

“I have been impressed with Alex whenever he has come in for training. He is a good guy. He is very humble but also very keen and he wants to work hard. I have been impressed with him as a bloke.

“We have no qualms putting him in there starting at loose-head. David (Wilson) covers loose-head from the bench but Alex has more experience there. “He has played in the Premiership for a few years now.