Conor O’Shea insists Italian eyes are firmly on the future with their rugby development, but is in no doubt of the potential satisfaction in some scalps during the upcoming RBS 6 Nations.
The 46-year-old is set to embark on his first Championship as a coach in February, having taken to the field 15 times as a player with Ireland.
Since beginning his reign, O’Shea has already seen the Azzurri conquer South Africa in their Autumn Internationals series, a win that may provide valuable momentum prior to their RBS 6 Nations opener with Wales on February 5.
But having lost out to Tonga just a few days after their Springbok success, O’Shea is calling for consistency from his side.
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That’s something he feels can come the longer the squad stays together with the former Harlequins man in it for the long haul to bring the best out of Italy’s talent.
“It’s incredibly exciting, it’s the start of a new journey for us in Italian rugby and trying to give people future and a new structure,” he said.
“You get involved, the game against South Africa was huge because there are going to be lots of ups and downs when you try and change things, but there’s potential and that win showed that to a lot of people.
“This is a group who won’t go away, the reaction of some of the players showed just how much it meant, even with the wives and girlfriends of the players.
“But we’ve got a lot of work to do, we struggled to come down from that high and lost to Tonga by a point a week later, but that’s all part of the learning curve.
“Our aim over the next few years is simple, to give the next generation a system to believe in and the team want to be winning these games now more than ever.”
Click here for the complete 2017 RBS 6 Nations fixture list
