Mack Hansen says Ireland need to be “rough” Ange Capuozzo To help prevent Italy’s “super-fast midgets” from derailing their quest for Grand Slam glory.
Andy Farrell’s men sit in pole position for Guinness on Saturday’s tough trip to Rome Six Nations The championship behind the bonus point wins Wales and France.
The resurrected Azzurri caught a 36-game losing streak in the championship. Welsh He backed it up with historic success against Australia in 2022 and this shock result.
Hansen is wary of “real superstars” in the opposing ranks and feels that Toulouse fullback Capuozzo deserves special attention, as he scored his country’s winning score at Cardiff before making two tries against the Wallabies in the fall.
“He’s an eye-catching player, so if we get a hold of him and smash him a little, that will help us,” the 23-year-old said of Capuozzo.
“He’s not the greatest player in the world but he’s so fast that we’ll probably have to go three-hundred to take care of him.
“But when it comes to that, we’ll also need to focus on every player in that backline – they’re all super-fast talismans.
“I did a little shot of him. It will be dangerous, but we are ready for it.”
Capuozzo was also on the score sheet as follows: Italy They continued to improve, scaring Six Nations champions France with a massive 29-24 loss at the start of this year’s tournament.
Hansen thinks the Azzurri have never been stronger, as they lost 31-14 to England in the second round.
“Anyone who says they’ve seen better is deceiving themselves,” the Connacht player said of the Italian team. “They had a great win in Wales and Oz.
“They were pretty unlucky against France, they played against England at Twickenham and everybody knows it’s not easy.
“At the moment they seem really sure of their identity and how they want to play the game.
“And now there really are some real superstars on their team who carry that. They’re not just good, solid Italian players, they’re world class players as well.”
Hansen is preparing to compete at the Stadio Olimpico for the third time in a row, but is still looking for his first try.
The 24-year-old looked confident in his second-round win over Ireland’s 32-19 win over Les Bleus before he was somehow pulled from the try-line and contacted by the genius of Antoine Dupont.
“First of all, he showed his brute strength, but it also shows what a smart player he is,” Hansen said of the France captain.
“I’ve seen a lot of people in the same situation trying to take down a player, and this is it. I’ve never seen anybody raise their hips directly so they can’t go forward.
“To be fair, he was pretty smart. Maybe someone a little bit bigger than me could have powered up but I think that shows what kind of caliber player he really is.
“I don’t know what else I could have done. If I was in the same situation again, maybe I’d just dive or jump into the air or something like that, something a little different but what he did was a game.