Michele Lamaro on the key mindset change that makes Italy 'scary' opponents

Michele Lamaro, who wins his 50th cap tomorrow along with team-mates Ignacio Brex and Paolo Garbisi, believes improving Italy can no longer benefit from being underestimated by their Guinness Six Nations rivals.

Having been viewed as whipping boys in their early years in the championship, the Azzurri have enhanced their reputation by picking up results against Wales, Scotland and France in the past two seasons, while they have also run both England and Ireland close.

Italy kick off their campaign against the Scots in Rome and captain Lamaro says their performance this weekend will have to be “a step higher” than it was when they fought back from 22-10 down to defeat Gregor Townsend’s side 31-29 in their last Stadio Olimpico meeting in March 2024.

“I think what has changed in the last couple of years is the perception of our team,” said Benetton back-rower Lamaro. “Teams are not scared of what we can do, but scared of what we might do if we are put in the position to do that.

“We’ve shown some really good rugby in the last couple of years, and we can see how the teams are starting to prepare for us.

“We have the confidence that if we do everything in the proper way, if we put ourselves in the best situation possible, we know we can put Scotland under massive pressure, even from a scoreboard perspective.

“We’ve been speaking all week about doing what we can control to get to those last 15-20 minutes in contention, and then heart will do the rest.”

Head-to-Head

Last 5 Meetings

Wins

1

Draws

0

Wins

4

Average Points scored

20

29

First try wins

60%

Home team wins

80%

Italy have never finished higher than fifth in the championship, but Lamaro said “the dream inside our heads is to win every game of this tournament, and it is essential that we continue to believe, we continue to want it, because without that dream, all our efforts would probably become useless”.

The captain hopes that playing their first match in Rome can help get them off to a flying start.

“We want to get the crowd going and share that dream with them, make them feel part of it,” said Lamaro. “That’s what we need and what they need too.

“We’ve been through some really tough moments in the past, so to be able to get that dream going again, it’s a really massive thing for us.

“And now seeing that tomorrow we’ll have 70,000 people at the Stadio Olimpico, it’s something that makes us unbelievably proud, and it gives us a lot of confidence that we’re going in the right direction.”