Quesada pushes Italrugby: “We want to compete with Australia and South Africa”

Show yourself competitive with Australia and South Africa. And then, if there is an opportunity, try. It is with this ambition that Italy coach Gonzalo Quesada approaches the three tests in November with the Wallabies (the 8th in Udine at 6.40pm), the reigning double world champion Springboks (the 15th in Turin at 1.40pm) and Chile (the 22nd in Genoa at 9.10pm). “If we are able to bring back to the field the work that we will start doing on Monday, if we are able to show it for all three matches, I will be satisfied,” said Quesada during the press conference to present the autumn series. “We know that it will be difficult to beat two great teams like the Wallabies and the Springboks: in the few training sessions we have available, we share the decisions and prepare the strategy that the leaders will have to bring to the field and the more we are able to do this, the more we will be able to compete and if you manage to do it, you also have the chance to get a result. Only in this way will it be very difficult for them to beat us too.”

time

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The little time that the team will spend together before starting the series is the first obstacle for Quesada: “There is nothing more beautiful and exciting than playing at home against two of the strongest teams in the world with the aim of competing, it will be a great opportunity. We know that South Africa and Australia have been working together for 4-5 months, they will arrive well-tested, but we will have little time, but we are not looking for alibis”. And rugby, Quesada then points out, doesn’t just need results: “We need inspiration to get children to come and play. As in the case of volleyball or tennis with Jannick Sinner, many go to play those sports because they are inspired by successes. We take to the pitch for the result, but we have a bigger vision, to inspire with our identity, with our values ​​which have led us to a standard of behaviour. Here, these three matches will be the opportunity to show it on the pitch, show how much heart and passion we put into defending this shirt. Trying to play our rugby with the ball even against very strong opponents.” For the first match in Udine, then, there will be extra motivation, after the bad test of a year ago, when the Azzurri, affected by food poisoning, were dominated by Argentina: “A year ago the public suffered a disappointment, now we will have the opportunity to show another image of our team, I am sure that in Udine they will see another Italy”.

young

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The list of players called up for the training camp which will start on Monday in Verona takes into consideration various aspects, which the Italian coach summarizes as follows: “There are the players who we consider to be in the best shape at the moment, with priority on the franchises, on those who play abroad and then down to the Elite and young players. However, we will have to take into account later on the conditions in which the players involved in foreign championships will arrive at the next meetings, they may not be ready right away. Our intention is to field the best in every match, because the number one objective will be performance, I don’t like experiments, whoever shows they are more valuable in training will play. After the first match against Australia, we will make a new call-up for South Africa.” In the group called up there are the two debutants Enoch Opoku, second row of Bath, and Edoardo Todaro, attacking midfielder of Northampton Saints, but Quesada does not want to burden them with too many responsibilities: “They did well at the Under 20 World Cup, they represent those young people of ours who have talent, character, desire and personality, so they deserved to be in the group. But they are not yet ready for this level, they will realize it, the However, the call is a way of telling him that I am on the right path.”

satisfied

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For the match in Genoa against Chile, Quesada claims a position of the Fir in contrast with that of the other big nations: “I hear many, many words from everyone, starting from World Rugby, on the development programs of the second-tier nations. Instead, Italy speaks with facts, because, as happened with the matches in Samoa and Tonga, where a tier-1 nation had not been to play for 20 years, which cost us a lot of effort in terms of logistics and travel, today we say that Chile deserved to play in the November international window and that it will be an honor for us to share this match. I often complain when I look at those in front of us, but we also need to look back and Chile is fighting to improve with its weapons, which are few.” After two years of working in Italy, Quesada, somewhat with difficulty, admits that he feels quite satisfied: “Happy would in fact be too big a word. We coaches demand a lot from our work and we think we can always do better, but for what we have done in this period, taking into account the path we must follow towards the greater objective of the 2027 World Cup, for what we have created with the staff, I think we are on the right path. We work to optimize our resources and gradually improve preparation conditions. I remain very convinced of my decision, having taken on the responsibility of leading Italy is a commitment to the entire movement.”