Italian back-row a huge threat, says Jennings

THOUGH much is being made about Italy’s scrum in the build-up to Sunday’s winner takes all Pool C finale against Ireland, there is another big weapon in the Italian armoury according to Shane Jennings.

Leinster open side flanker Jennings, who scored Ireland’s eighth of nine tries in the 62-12 win over Russia in Rotorua, knows all about the dynamic back-row threat of Sergio Parisse, Alessandro Zanni and Mauro Bergamasco.

“Their back row’s pretty well balanced,” Jennings said. Of Parisse, he added: “You can see he’s an all-round player and I’m sure that’s what gives him confidence in leadership, because he’s such a quality player. He’s got the ability to do offloads, put trail runners in, so he’s got good hands and he’s a very strong man. His lineout game is good, he’s good off the back of the scrum and is a pretty complete player.”

There is more to Italy in the loose than their captain fantastic, however and Jennings added: “Bergamasco’s very good. He’s been struggling with injury the last while and he’s come good now. You can see he’s very physical at the breakdown. He’s cute, very disruptive and can play as well.”

Jennings also pinpointed former Leicester team-mate, tighthead prop Martin Castrogiovanni as another formidable breakdown opponent as well as a formidable scrummaging talents. “He’s similar to Parisse. He works hard for the team, that was my experience of him at Leicester, and above all he’s a good scrummager and he’s good in the loose as well. But, like everybody else, he’s just one player. If we concentrate on Parisse, or concentrate on Castro too much there could be holes somewhere else. You give them the respect they deserve but there’s a few others we have to keep an eye on as well.”

Picture: Shane Jennings training in Dunedin. Picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile