Jacques Brunel will lead Italy in his fourth and final Six Nations this year © Getty Images

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The 2015 Six Nations will be the fourth and the final for Jacques Brunel as coach of Italy. The Frenchman, who turned 61 on January 14, will step down at the end of the Rugby World Cup and will always be remembered for their two championship wins in 2013 but also for the wooden spoon that followed it 12 months later. But now, the Azzurri need some good performances to start the run to ensure the skipper Sergio Parisse and his team-mates arrive at the World Cup in the right manner.

Four years ago Brunel set the goal of reaching the quarter-finals. "We want to show in the Six Nations what we started during the last autumn internationals," Brunel told ESPN. "In November we played with some confidence, we achieved a good level of consistency and we got our defence back to where it used to be. So during the next two months we aim to keep that level of quality."

The win against Samoa in November broke a streak of nine consecutive defeats and the manner in which they pushed the Springboks and Pumas gave Italy some heart; something that was missing since 2013. Encouraging signs are not enough though and if Italy really want to begin the World Cup year with a convincing Six Nations campaign they must show progress in attack. "We are still in search of the right balance and we definitely must improve our offensive efficiency," Brunel said. "2014 was a weird year and I am still convinced we missed some opportunities in terms of wins. We had some matches there to grab but we missed the chance. That's the key: we need to start winning games that are within our grasp."

Italy play three games at home and Brunel knows how important is to perform in front of your home fans. Two years ago the Azzurri shocked France and then recorded their first ever Six Nations win over Ireland in front of an almost sold out Stadio Olimpico. Already more than 100,000 tickets have been sold for the in Rome this time around.

Brunel said having home advantage will offer Italy a chance to cause some damage but he is wary of their ever-improving rivals. "We are going to face teams that have improved so much from what they were in 2013. We made some good progress in November but the problem is that our opponents did the same."

So this year should be harder than two years ago for Azzurri but regardless of this, Brunel has opted for new faces. With some injury problems to deal with, with the likes of centres Gonzalo Canale, Gonzalo Garcia and Alberto Sgarbi all missing, Brunel opted for a young and inexperienced midfield with Michele Campagnaro and Benetton Treviso teammate Luca Morisi the probable starters. And then there is the debutant Giulio Bisegni, who has two tries in eight games for Zebre in the PRO12. They are three players under the age of 24 with just 21 caps between them. The option of Andrea Masi at centre may be something Brunel looks at but he will likely find himself in the back three, between Luke McLean and Leonardo Sarto on the wings.

The other two newcomers in the squad are Zebre winger Michele Visentin and Calvisano scrum-half Marcello Violi, both former Italy Under-20 stars. "This is the right time to try something new," believes Brunel. "We have injuries and we wanted to offer our youngsters that played some good rugby during the season a chance. We have three scrum-halves with an uncapped one because we are looking to monitor Violi's progress during the Six Nations period."

Missing from the squad are props Michele Rizzo, Lorenzo Cittadini and fly-half Luciano Orquera with the No.10 shirt a shootout between Tommy Allan and Kelly Haimona. "We know Orquera well but we are looking for answers from Haimona and Allan," Brunel said. "Kelly's performances were a positive from November while Allan was not involved. Now they must take this chance and prove they are the quality players we believe they are."

But, as Brunel is aware, this year opponents look to be a stronger as ever. Ireland were excellent last autumn even without Brian O 'Driscoll and Scotland have made strides since Vern Cotter took the reins. Wales and England have huge depth and quality in their squads and France will always be a threat. "You know what?" Brunel pondered, "this tournament is absolutely amazing because of its unpredictability. Every year we talk and study and follow teams and players but as we move closer to the first weekend, we still don't have a clue about who will win."

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