Italy

As an All Blacks supporter it's always interesting to see how opposition sides respond to the Haka, and Italy's response in Rome on the weekend spoke volumes about their sides' mindset going in to the match.

Here is my Autumn International Test Rugby Review following the weekend, from a New Zealand perspective.

The June International Matches leaves me wondering if there should be a Northern vs Southern Hemisphere rugby series at the end of the year, so some players who are injured now would still be available.

Where life takes Nick Mallet next is no idea, but what you can be sure of is he can be proud of what he achieved during his time at the helm of the Italian rugby team...

England u20's got off to a winning start on Monday as we beat Italy U20's 64-5 in Cape Town.

With the British and Irish Lions 2013 tour to Australia countdown now less than a year away, we thought at Talking Rugby Union we would publish our British and Irish Lions teams we would play.

A scrappy affair in Rome saw Italy avoid the Wooden Spoon for a sixth year in a row beating Scotland 13-6.

The Rugby Union Fans Six Nations team of the tournament, this is based on player performance throughout the competition and not on the talent levels of the individual player;

Azzurri coach Jacques Brunel has made six changes to his Italy side that will face Scotland in the wooden spoon decider on Saturday afternoon.

Wales captain Sam Warburton has been ruled out of Saturday's clash with Italy after he failed to recover from a knee injury.

A gutsy win for England at the Stadio Olimpico saw them go top of the table running out 19-15 winners against Italy. England came from 15-6 down to scrape their second win of the championship.

How's it going my rugby buddies! As the Six Nations swings by it's a great couple of months for all rugby fans in the Northern Hemisphere.

Six Nations: Week 2 Preview

Saturday's Six Nations opener saw the continental clash of the tournament: les bleus versus l'azzuri, France vs Italy.

Philippe Saint-Andre's first game in charge saw France win comfortably against Italy 30-12 in front of the Paris crowd. The home side avenged last year's defeat to the Azzurri by dominating the game from start to finish.

So what did we learn from the first weekend of the 6 Nations. Some would say not much that we didn’t know on Friday but it was a weekend that gave us flashes of brilliance amongst the pragmatism and a couple of controversial refereeing decisions.

It is one of those things where you are envious because that guy is living your dream, but you would be too terrified to say anything if you were in his position.

The first game of this year's Six Nations tournament sees World Cup finalists France host Italy at the Stade de France.

Six Nations coaches and players chat to Talking Rugby

When I last wrote a Blog I was still in New Zealand enjoying what I can only describe as the best World Cup to have ever been played out!