Nick Mallett is hoping that his Italy side can remain competitive during the Six Nations © Getty Images

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Players/Officials: Nick Mallett

Tournaments/Tours: Six Nations

Teams: Italy

Italy coach Nick Mallett has set moderate targets for the Six Nations, hoping that his squad can remain competitive in every game.

The Azzurri go into the tournament without injured skipper Sergio Parisse and face a tough opener away to reigning Grand Slam champions Ireland at Croke Park.

"For Italy, success means being competitive against every other side," he said. "When we have a chance to beat a team, we have to take it. If we're playing the bigger teams away, we don't want to lose by 70 points.

"We want the defeats to be within 15-20 points. That's where Italian rugby is at the moment and we have to improve on that."

Mallett's spirits were lifted by the 80,000 fans that turned out to see his side's gutsy defeat to the All Blacks at the San Siro in November and the former Springbok insists that the squad is coming together despite a number of players, including Australian fly-half Craig Gower, coming from outside the country.

"Every team has to find an identity so that it plays for something greater than itself," he said. "A team that understands that performs better. It's very important for the Italian team to be seen as Italian.

"We have a rule that Italian has to be spoken at all our games and all meetings. Guys who come in from outside have to speak Italian. We got 80,000 people at the San Siro last November against all Italian precedents, which was extraordinary and unique. Normally Italians will only support winning teams but we'd been on a losing streak.

"But the public had seen something on the pitch that gave them pride. They saw that we were boxing outside our division and how hard we are trying. It's crucial that our players know they are the flag bearers for the future of Italian rugby. If the national side doesn't perform well, we won't be able to increase the numbers playing. The players understand that responsibility."