Italy’s historic 22-21 victory over France.
Italy’s rugby players woke up on Sunday to find themselves making a rare appearance on the front pages of sport newspapers.
And they were lauded as “heroes” for securing their place in history with a “dream” victory.
In Corriere dello Sport it was a quote from Mallett that made the principal headline.
“Emotional Mallett: I’ve never been so proud,” it quoted the South African as saying.
Mallett had said: “I was proud of the players after the Ireland and Wales matches, I was very disappointed after England.
“But I’m very, very proud, it’s one of my best moments. I’ve had a lot of luck with teams, I’ve won many things with South Africa and Stade Francais but this is possibly my proudest day as a coach.”
For the Corriere it was such an important occasion that it saw fit to mis-quote Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon: “A small step for a rugby player, a giant leap for Italian rugby.”
La Repubblica opened their sports pages with a two-page spread entitled: “Historic Try”, with a picture of Italy hero and man-of-the-match Andrea Masi bursting through three French tacklers, although it wasn’t the moment he actually crossed the try-line.
“An unforgettable day for Italian rugby at the Flaminio,” it said.
“Reigning champions France beaten and humiliated for the first time in the Six Nations.
“Those who love sport, who are part of a proud minority, know you can wait a lifetime for days like this.”
Italy’s biggest sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport found space on their front page to proclaim: “Historic Italy.”
“At the Flaminio 30,000 fans were in delirium. France beaten in the Six Nations, (coach Nick) Mallett in tears,” it continued.
“History was rewritten in 20 minutes, the last of a game that has already become legend.
“Like never before in the Six Nations, like only Grenoble in 1997, the only win in 31 (sic 32) previous games.”
That last reference was to Italy’s only other victory over the French 14 years ago in a friendly test against the then Grand Slam winners.
Inside, the newspaper continued: “Italy awakes. Incredible, we tore France apart.
“It’s the biggest win in Italy’s history.”
La Gazzetta was also harking back to other momentous occasions in the country’s rugby past such as the first victory over a Home Union in 1995 when Ireland were beaten 22-12 in Treviso.
And it went on to laud the 40-32 victory over (an admittedly weakened) France in 1997, Italy’s Six Nations debut, a 34-20 defeat of Scotland, and their only away victory in the competition in 2007 when they returned from Murrayfield with a 37-17 success.
“Now the heroes of Grenoble are no longer alone,” it said.
La Gazzetta couldn’t resist reminding the beaten visitors of the Saturday morning headline in France’s biggest sports daily L’Equipe, which trumpeted: “Roman Holiday”.
Italy captain Sergio Parisse said his team had turned a dream into reality following their nail-biting and historic 22-21 victory over France in the Six Nations on Saturday.
“What can I say, it doesn’t happen often that I come here to the post-match press conference with a smile,” joked Parisse.
“There are so many emotions, so much joy, it’s a dream to beat France at home but it’s no longer a dream, it’s a reality.
“This group deserves it, they were fantastic but [coach] Nick [Mallett] also deserves it.
“He’s taken so much criticism but now he too enters into our history as the first team to beat France in the Six Nations.”
Parisse admitted that Italy never really expected to beat the French but said that once they saw their opponents’ heads drop, they knew they were in with a shout.
They came into this game with only seven previous wins in the competition in 58 games and those only against the traditionally weaker teams Scotland (five) and Wales (two).
But having finally broken their duck against France, and not only that but deservedly so in a gritty performance that showed not only Italy’s progress in defensive terms but also a slowly expanding running game, the Azzurri were naturally delighted.
I told the players that no-one can stop us dreaming and that we have our destiny in our own hands.
“Even though we won, France are better than us but in rugby when you play with heart and belief, that can be enough.”
Mallett said he knew they could beat the French once they started to come back at them.
“Games are strange, I asked the team to stay close to France in the first half and it was at 8-6, we put them under pressure,” said the 54-year-old former Springbok coach.
France coach Marc Lievremont launched an unprecedented attack on his players on Sunday in the aftermath of their historic 22-21 Six Nations defeat by Italy accusing them of betrayal and being cowards.
The 42-year-old has suffered many reverses since guiding France to the Grand Slam last year – their first since 2004 – but the nature of their defeat to Italy when France had led 18-6 in the second half left him seething even after having had a night to reflect on it.
“Maybe they were too much in the comfort zone,” mused Lievremont, who was a surprise choice to replace Bernard Laporte after the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
“Do I feel responsible for that? No, they betrayed us, they have betrayed me and they have betrayed the French national team shirt.
“In terms of the tactics deployed, it defied belief. I did not recognise anything in their performance that we had worked on.
“Do you really think that I told them to play as they did against Italy? I was ashamed. I do not have the impression we asked them to walk on the moon. I do not ask for complicated things.
“This match was an hallucination. I do not want to clear myself from the blame but they invented things on the pitch.”
Lievremont, who steadfastly refused to step down after the humiliating 59-16 home defeat by Australia last November, laid into his players and questioned their character.
“They are lacking in courage. They are good guys but cursed with what is obviously cowardice,” said Lievremont, who refused to address the players after the match such was his fury and only singled out captain Thierry Dusautoir and wing Vincent Clerc for praise.
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