Italrugby ko in Ireland, Lamaro: "Now they respect us"

Italy coach Gonzalo Quesada applauded his team after losing to Ireland 20-13 in Dublin on the second day of the Six Nations. “I am aware of who we were facing and their situation, so I have to give this performance the value it deserves. We are still not able to make zero mistakes in a game but I am still proud of what the boys did”.

“We come away with a well-deserved bonus point, the draw was within our grasp: the bounce in the middle of the posts and the cancelled goal are episodes that did not reward us. The defeat hurts, but I see many more positives than negatives”.

Captain Michele Lamaro emphasized the competitiveness of the team: “The difference with the past is all about being able to compete even when we are not performing at 100 percent. This is not something you always manage to do: like last week, we did not play a perfect game today. But we played well, putting everything we had on the field, taking advantage of the chances and putting pressure on Ireland”.

Luca Franzosi

“I am very proud of this team. We want to create something important. Sometimes it is difficult. We are not superheroes. But we believe in our work and we are happy with the perception we are having to the outside world: we are starting to get respect from other teams.”