Intro:

Italy captain Sergio Parisse on the Six Nations Championship - and their opening game against Ireland in Rome on February 7th.

Script:

SOUNDBITE: (English) Italy captain Sergio Parisse:

"Well, we are really looking forward to playing this tournament. Last tournament was really poor for us. We had a very difficult tour as well in the summer but we found, in the November Tests especially, we played good rugby. We are really confident now to play this Six Nations. We start probably against the best team now in Rome so it's a really good challenge, a really good opportunity for us."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Italy captain Sergio Parisse (about autumn internationals):

"Well in terms of confidence we have a lot of pressure before this match so getting a win against Samoa was definitely something positive for the atmosphere inside the team. I am really, really happy at the way we approached the three matches. We played against Argentina, South Africa - big teams. We deserved better, in terms of a result against Argentina and we were competitive against South Africa as well so we are really confident. Obviously the Six Nations is another competition. It's a very tough competition for us but probably the best thing is to play the best team at the moment at home so to start well the championship."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Italy captain Sergio Parisse:

"Definitely, in our mind, any player will think to play well this Six Nation will have a chance to be involved in the squad to go to England to play the World Cup. Especially for us, we have France and Ireland in the same pool in the World Cup so, definitely, we will receive Ireland and France at home so it's going to be important from the mental point of view to be as competitive as them and get confidence, to, after a couple of months of fight again to play against them again in the World Cup."