Nick Mallett insists Italy's objective throughout the 2010 RBS 6 Nations is to remain competitive.
A lack of playing resources limits Italy's ambition but Mallett will be satisfied if they trouble all opponents - while picking up the odd scalp.
"For Italy, success means being competitive against every other side," he said.
The Azzurri have won only six of the 50 games they have played since joining the championship in 2000 and have finished with the wooden spoon seven times.
But, on occasion, the competition's lowest-ranked team have proved dangerous opponents at the Stadio Flaminio, where Wales and Scotland have succumbed in the past.
Mallett added: "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."
The two Italian teams set to join the Magners League next season could be put on ice as the franchises are struggling to meet the criteria.
Financial and political issues are hampering progress, with a report and decision on progress expected in two weeks' time, according to the Irish Independent.
The internal political issues revolve around the relative strength of the teams, who would be severely weakened by international call-ups during the November Test window and Six Nations.
Then there are financial problems, with an entry fee of EUR 3m being demanded as a joint entry fee to cover the cost of expanding the league and the other teams' admin and away games, and a TV money contribution of EUR 1.2m set as a minimum requirement.
The two franchises might use the Heineken Cup as a fall-back option, but ERC are not likely to accept entry from teams who are not yet organised by the February 3 deadline.
The impetus for including Italy in the first place comes from the IRB who want to see a more competitive Italy on the international stage, with club rugby needing a boost in order to get that far.
But as it stands, the Italian teams would not necessarily raise the standard, particularly with more games then scheduled to be played inside the Test window, which would dilute the quality of the teams on show further.
Andrew Baldock offers the view from England about Hook, Henson and those star-studded Ospreys
IT has been another routine few days down west at the Liberty Stadium.
The star-studded Ospreys seem to command more column inches than just about any other rugby union team around.
It is not necessarily their fault, of course. There is little they can do about talk surrounding James Hook joining Worcester or the Blues, and when – even if – Gavin Henson (remember him?) will play again.
The media spotlight will always shine on a squad containing such riches, especially Henson, whether that is for the right or wrong reasons.
The Ospreys have their critics, some more vociferous than others, and a few who are seemingly waiting for them to fall at every hurdle.
Again this weekend there will be those hoping it goes wrong when the Ospreys visit one of European rugby’s most imposing venues – Stade Marcel Michelin in Clermont-Ferrand.
It is a mentality I, for one, cannot understand. Surely, a successful Ospreys side is what Welsh rugby needs.
Let us not beat about the bush here – this team is good enough to not only beat Clermont this afternoon, but also to win this season’s Heineken Cup.
Yes, the critics will point to past failures when pressure has been at its most intense – Heineken quarter-final defeats against Saracens and Munster, for instance.
But a team that contains the likes of Lee Byrne, Shane Williams, Tommy Bowe, James Hook, Mike Phillips (when fit), Adam Jones, Alun Wyn Jones, Jerry Collins, Marty Holah and Ryan Jones should be enjoyed, not pilloried.
Events during the next few days will shape the Ospreys’ season. After visiting Clermont, they host their familiar Heineken Cup foes Leicester.
Win the two matches, and the Ospreys can look forward to a home quarter-final in April with a realistic chance of becoming Wales’ first European champions.
The Ospreys’ fellow Welsh regions – the Blues, Scarlets and Dragons – have little realistic chance of progressing, so it is down to Ryan Jones and his team.
And surely the whole of Welsh rugby should get behind them, not bicker about what the Ospreys might not have done, should be doing or will never do.
But winning a European title is certainly something they can achieve, so it is about time some people in Wales grew up, ditched the village mentality and started looking at the bigger picture.
A successful Ospreys invariably means a successful Wales – as proved in the 2008 Six Nations title-winning and Grand Slam campaign when Warren Gatland started with 13 and 12 Ospreys players, respectively, for opening victories over England and Scotland.
Wales have never had a Heineken Cup winner.
Cardiff were beaten finalists back in 1996 – the competition’s inaugural season – but that is the closest any team here has come to lifting European silverware.
It is a dismal record. Yet the Ospreys are equipped to start redressing the balance.
So it beggars belief that a nation cannot put parochial bias, and maybe jealousy, to one side and unite in their support for comfortably Wales’ best team.
JANUARY is a defining month in the rugby season. By the time February 1 comes around, the national squads will have been named for the Six Nations and we will know the names of the eight teams that have qualified for the knockout stages of the Heineken Cup.
Not for the first time at this pivotal point in the calendar, eyes turn to the Ospreys.
They are the only Welsh region that can realistically get out of their group and they also have two enthralling matches to come, starting with Clermont on Saturday.
The rugby played in most of the Heineken Cup and Magners League this season has been disappointing. If some of the games we’ve seen on TV were being played in our back gardens, we’d have closed the curtains and had a nice cup of tea instead.
However, the matches in Pool Three have been the exception, mesmerising. Each time, the Ospreys, Leicester and Clermont have clashed, they have produced pulsating rugby and one hopes that as the stakes increase, so does the drama.
It looks likely that two teams will qualify from this group, but trying to guess which two out of the three that will be is a different matter.
I used to think that Leicester were going to miss out until last weekend when they gave Wasps a thumping to remember.
Clermont will face the Ospreys at home on the back of an away win in Toulouse which takes them to the top of the French league.
Over the last few games, the Ospreys appear to be developing into a team rather than a collection of outstanding individuals.
So, what do the Ospreys need to do to win in Clermont? The key to the game will be the first 20 minutes and coming unscathed through that.
French sides explode early on at home; they throw everything at their opponents hoping to crack them.
The Ospreys will need to be prepared for a ferocious opening 10 minutes when they must not yield. Their defence has been impressive recently and it will need to be at its best again.
But, also in those first minutes, the Ospreys must challenge Clermont’s defence. They cannot hold out in the way they did against the Scarlets because the quality of the opposition’s try-scoring ability will be so much higher.
Should the Ospreys come through the early pressure, they will then need to settle into a pattern.
Central to their game-plan recently has been the decision-making of Dan Biggar. He is developing as a fly-half and is confident enough to take the responsibility.
He does a lot of shouting on the pitch not everything of which appears to have a definite purpose. Nevertheless he does not lack authority.
The Ospreys midfield were opened up countless times in their first match against the Tigers and, although those errors have improved, Biggar’s tackling ability will be tested again on Saturday.
Adam Jones’ return should steady the scrum which was a major weakness in the first two rounds and the Ospreys need to use that platform effectively.
First phase from the scrum is the best time to launch your backs and the Ospreys are showing glimpses of the renowned “Jonno” imagination from this situation.
I like the look of Tommy Bowe in the centre and with Shane Williams back fit the Ospreys will have their big guns together.
However, make no mistake, the game will depend on what happens up front and, if anything, the Ospreys are overly reliant on Ryan Jones as their ball carrier.
The other forwards who are capable of crossing the gain line such as Alun Wyn Jones and Jerry Collins will need to lighten the skipper’s load.
One of the major threats that the Ospreys face is Clermont scrum-half Morgan Parra. His sharp bursts are devastating. The Welsh region will have to be extra vigilant around the fringes of the ruck or else it could be trouble.
Ultimately, the Ospreys must believe in themselves. They have the players and the ability but do they have the belief?
This competition is as much about the will to win as it is the talent on the field.
It is time that the glamour stars of Welsh rugby were applauded for their grit.
The IRB held their global rugby forum in Woking this week with the Pumas' future near the top of the agenda following their remarkable third-place finish at the World Cup.
Argentina, ranked third in the world, are marginalised by a lack of inclusion in a major annual tournament and formally applied to join the Six Nations earlier this month.
The IRB have devised a four-year plan which will integrate them into the international calendar - with the Tri-Nations their ultimate destination.
'The forum agreed that the Pumas’ future lies in the southern hemisphere,' said an IRB statement.
Television rights to the Tri-Nations are to be renegotiated in 2010 and the combined Australia, New Zealand and South African unions are considering plans to expand.
Major logistical problems would arise from Argentina's involvement in a beefed-up Tri-Nations with the main stumbling block being that most Pumas are based in Europe.
But it is planned that this obstacle will be removed by the introduction of a competitive professional structure in Argentina.
'In the short term there are major hurdles to the integration of Argentina into the southern playing structure,' continued the statement.
'However, the Argentinian Rugby Union (UAR) have made a commitment to have their players contracted to the union and for the majority of their players to be based in Argentina by 2012.
'The forum agreed to assist the UAR to put in place pathways to get the players back to Argentina and to develop the next generation of home-grown Pumas.
