Italy coach Nick Mallett singled new fly-half Craig Gower out for special praise after the Azzurri's defeat in Australia.
Azzurri boss pleased with impact made by new number 10
Italy coach Nick Mallett singled new fly-half Craig Gower out for special praise despite seeing the Azzurri crash to their 10th consecutive international defeat at the hands of the Wallabies this weekend.
Italy succumbed 34-12 to the second-string Wallabies in Melbourne on Saturday after going down 31-8 to a stronger Australian combination the previous week.
It gets no easier for the Six Nations strugglers, who take on New Zealand in Christchurch next Saturday, but Mallett is proud of the way his Italian squad is coping with the tough tour.
Italy have traditionally played through their forwards, but in former Australian rugby league international Gower, who qualifies to play for Italy through his grandfather, Mallett feels they have added another string to their bow.
"I don't think any of the Italian backs have had the opportunity to play with someone who is such a good off-loader of the ball in the tackle and with his sense of space as Craig," Mallett said Sunday.
"The way he attacks the line, he's got a lot of confidence and I'm just really pleased with his selection.
"I'm just sorry I didn't pick him up a year earlier when he first came over from Australia, but back then he was still developing his rugby."
Gower left Australia's National Rugby League in 2007 to play French club rugby with Bayonne and his distribution against the Wallabies reflected that NRL high quality.
"We saw a number of breaks against the Wallabies that we've never had in the games I've been involved in with our other fly-halves, so that's thanks to Craig," Mallett added.
