Berbizier wants more improvement from Azzurri

Italy will be looking to put down a marker ahead of their probable winner-takes-all Pool C match against Scotland when they meet Portugal at the Parc des Princes tomorrow.

The Azzurri have struggled for form at the World Cup, having been thrashed 76-14 by New Zealand in their opener and then scraping past Romania 24-18 last week.

At this rate, the Scots will go into the expected qualification decider in St Etienne on September 29 as the favourites, but a dominant performance against the Portuguese would give the Italians some much-needed confidence.

Coach Pierre Berbizier saw some encouraging signs against the Romanians and wants to see his team push on from there.

“I saw a good reaction in Marseille during the first few minutes of our match against Romania,” said the former France player and coach.

“We started playing really well and we showed the reaction that I want. Now we have to keep up that level we showed in the early stages of the match against Romania.

“We will continue to work on that. A match in this competition requires a huge mental preparation and we expect to develop that aspect in the best possible way.”

Only seven of the team that beat Romania are retained for the Paris encounter.

It will be a special night for one of the players recalled, scrum-half Alessandro Troncon, who will earn his 100th Test cap.

He is reunited with former Leeds Tykes utility man Roland de Marigny at fly-half while elsewhere behind the scrum, only full-back David Bortolussi and centre Gonzalo Canale are spared the drop.

The survivors in the pack are experienced quintet Andrea Lo Cicero, Martin Castrogiovanni, Marco Bortolami, Mauro Bergamasco and Sergio Parisse.

Parisse will move to openside flanker to accommodate the inclusion of number eight Manoa Vosawai, while Carlo Del Fava comes in at lock and Leonardo Ghiraldini at hooker.

“There are some injured players and we made our decision with that in mind,” said Berbizier.

“Alessandro Zanni is injured so is Josh Sole, so that’s why Sergio Parisse will have to play as number six and not as number eight like he always does.

“He’s done that for us before. It’s not ideal, but we have to adapt to the situation.”

Tournament debutants Portugal have not claimed any points from their opening two games, but they have picked up many friends along the way.

After a 56-10 defeat to Scotland on their debut, the amateurs were smashed 108-13 by the All Blacks in Lyon on Saturday.

With a programme of two tough games in four days, coach Tomaz Morais has been forced to ring the changes, retaining just six players from the New Zealand game.

Winger Antonio Aguilar and centre Diogo Mateus keep their places in the back division, while Morais keeps faith with hooker Joao Correia, prop Ruben Spachuck, lock Goncalo Uva and number eight Vasco Uva in the pack.

Prop Rui Cordeiro, who scored a try against the Kiwis, and goal-kicking fly-half Duarte Pinto are two of the players recalled.

Daniel Hourcade, the assistant coach of the Iberians, admits his side have work to do on their defending.

“We have to improve our tackling,” he said. “We can´t make the same mistakes that we made in the last two matches.

“We have to learn from that and improve. Italy is a team that even if you give them the slightest bit of space, they can be really dangerous.

“But if they are under pressure like they were against Romania, they can make mistakes and that is the idea. Pressure is the most important thing.”

Italy beat the Portuguese 83-0 the last time the two teams met, in a World Cup qualifier in L’Aquila, but Ghiraldini cannot see that scoreline being repeated.

“We’ve seen a lot of teams who, before the World Cup, weren’t very well prepared, like Georgia or Namibia,” said the hooker.

“But then when they come here, they are ready for the challenge. ”Every match is different in the World Cup. It’s hard to think that our match against Portugal could be similar to the one in which we beat them 83-0 in the qualifiers.“