Taylor wary of confident Azzurri

Wales centre Mark Taylor is expecting a tough final RBS 6 Nations Championship clash when Italy arrive in Cardiff on Saturday.

Italy have yet to win an away match since joining the tournament but, after watching them take the scalp of Scotland, Taylor is expecting to encounter a confident Azzurri.

“Italy are a very difficult side to play against,” warned the British Lion.

“This is probably the best Italy side that has been involved in the Six Nations.

“They have been competitive against all the big sides and obviously managed to turn over Scotland.

“They will now come over here with an awful lot of confidence and fancy themselves to pull off a win.”

However, Taylor is believes Wales can take a lot of confidence themselves into the opening match of ‘Super Saturday’, despite going down 31-21 to England at Twickenham last weekend.

“I think we played well against England. Things clicked for us. The way England defend helped us, because they do show you the outside,” said Taylor, who will win his 47th cap on Saturday.

“But the big thing in the end was England’s set-piece. Towards the end they took control of the game.

“Saying that you have to give tremendous credit to our forwards. Everyone says what a great backline Wales has but the forwards contributed to the open style of play.

“On occasion it was the forwards who ended up making breaks and we produced 15-man rugby against England.

“That goes to show the work done by our skills coach Scott Johnson has borne fruit because everyone is comfortable with ball in hand.

“This is the best team I’ve been involved in with regards the skill and mobility of the players.

“It’s nice to go to Twickenham and be part of a team like that, with your forwards providing the type of options they are providing it makes it easier for back play.”

Much of the talk surrounding the Wales camp is of the national coach with Steve Hansen stepping down on Saturday after two years in charge to be replaced by Mike Ruddock.

And Taylor, who played under Ruddock when he was at Swansea, is hoping the transition is a smooth one.

“Mike Ruddock is going to come in with a blank canvass and bring his own stamp on the game, and everyone is wanting to go out and impress,” said Taylor.

“Mike is obviously is a good coach and I’m sure he will have a lot of talks with Steve Hansen to make it as seamless a transition as possible.

“Having the likes of Scott Johnson and fitness coach Andrew Hore still on board will help that transition.”

Ruddock’s first major job as coach is the tour of Argentina and South Africa in the summer, but Taylor might look to opt out of the trip to sort out knee problems.

“I have had a few knee niggles over the last couple of years and I probably need a bit of time to sort that out, and it’s something I probably need to sit down with Mike and talk about,” he admitted.