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Italy hand Franco Smith top job, for now
By Online Editors
Italy have announced former South Africa international Franco Smith as interim head coach for the 2020 Guinness Six Nations.
Smith replaces former Harlequins head coach Conor O’Shea who resigned last week after three years in the role.
Former fly-half or centre Smith, who made nine appearances for the Springboks between 1996 and 1999, has previous experience in Italy, having played at Treviso for three years before taking over as head coach at the club for a further six years.
The 47-year-old will be supported by forwards coach Giampiero De Carli, defence coach Marius Goosen and fitness coaches Pete Atkinson and Giovanni Sanguin for the Six Nations campaign which begins at the Principality Stadium against Wales on February 1.
The Italy Rugby Federation will continue their search for a permanent successor and hope to have them in place by July 1, 2020 for the tour of the Americas until the end of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
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Latest Comments
Completely and utterly agree mate. The whole George Ford kick substitution issue pales into significance compared to the issue that we didn't get anywhere near the bloody tryline except with an interception. Our attack is nonexistent. If we're only getting a maximum of 3 points on an entry to the red zone it doesn't matter who's on the damn bench! Borthers and Wigglesworth spent their careers trotting after kicks and taking set pieces, that's how they think rugby should be played. The scoreline was incredibly flattering, England were poor.
Go to commentsBest article ever
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