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Mouneimne gives Italy steel

Saturday 24 September 2011, 12:37PM

By Rugby World Cup 2011

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Omar Mouneimne is the man at the centre of Italy's defence
Omar Mouneimne is the man at the centre of Italy's defence Credit: Rugby World Cup 2011

NELSON

Italy are relying on the skills of a South African to give them the steel to reach the quarter-finals of Rugby World Cup 2011.

Omar Mouneimne's role as defence coach will become all-important as Italy strive to press home the advantage in their final two Pool C games against USA next Tuesday at Trafalgar Park and Ireland at Otago Stadium on 2 October.

And, if the past is any indication, Italy are in safe hands. Mouneimne, brought on board by the Azzurri for the November 2010 internationals, made his reputation at the Stormers, who had the best defensive record in Super Rugby while he worked for the Cape Town-based club.

In 2010, the physical Stormers conceded an average of 13 points a game on their way to the final - nine points fewer than the next best team.

So far, Italy has conceded seven tries in two matches - losing 32-6 to Australia and defeating Russia 53-17 - but Mouneimne is still happy with his side's overall defensive performance.

"We usually get 10 turnovers per match and, if you look at the ruck speed, you will see that the opposition's is slower and ours is always quicker," he said.

"That is because of our work at the breakdown. Even the commentator during the Russia match said how slow their ball was."

Need for physicality

Mouneimne, who barks his orders in a mix of English and Italian, knows it is crunch time for Italy, who are third behind Ireland and Australia in their pool, but with destiny still in their hands.

"Italy used to concede 4.5 tries per match," he said. "Coming into this competition, we got that average down to 2.2 tries per match.

"You don't get better in one game, you have to work on the defensive process. In the Six Nations, it improved a lot as we were together for five or six weeks.

"At the start of the training camp for the World Cup, we had to remind the players of the need for physicality."

Italy were left frustrated at conceding five tries against Russia in their last game, mainly from individual errors.

It took the gloss off their bonus-point victory, but now all the focus has moved forward to their third match against USA in Nelson.

"I wasn't happy with our physicality in defence or our tackle technique,' Mouneimne said.

"The intensity in the hit, to destroy your opponent in the tackle, wasn't there, and we will fix that this week.

"The USA are very physical and they think that their strength is out wide. That is where they will try to beat us."