Less attack, more balance - Mike Catt expects refined Italy

Ireland attack coach Mike Catt expects Italy to become a more balanced team under new head coach Gonzalo Quesada, as the sides prepare to face off in Round 2 of the Guinness Six Nations this Sunday.

The Azzurri are starting from scratch again in 2024, having parted ways with Kieran Crowley following the World Cup. The New Zealander had been in charge of the country since 2021, and oversaw some famous one-off wins against Wales and Australia.

Despite causing France, Ireland and Scotland real problems during last year's championship, and playing some thrilling, attacking rugby along the way, the Federazione Italiana Rugby (FIR) decided against renewing Crowley's contract for 2024, before they spiraled during the World Cup under their lame duck coach.

It's very early days for Italy under Quesada, and his first game followed the usual script as they lost at home to England.

But the limited body of evidence we have of the Argentinean's gameplan is that they're going to have a more restrained style of play compared to last season. Against England last weekend, they kicked the ball 24 times, a huge increase on the 14 times they did so in the same fixture in 2023.

Their exit strategy against England also followed that trend. In 2023 they often tried to run their way out of trouble, choosing to carry the ball out of their 22 rather than kicking.

In four of their five games in the 2023 campaign, Italy's carries out of the 22 outnumbered their kicks, particularly in their final two games against Wales and Scotland where 60% and 53% of their exits from the 22 were carries. Against England on Saturday, that number fell dramatically to just 29%, as 57% of their exits out of their own 22 were kicks. The highest number of kicking exits they