Italy beat Fiji 23-8 in Monza last month to immediately bounce back from their 39-22 home defeat to Argentina the previous week.

The Azzurri also saw off Tonga 48-0 midway through November as part of their autumn schedule but it was the win over Fiji - a side who were two places above Italy in the world rankings - that Bortolami was most pleased with.

The success against Fiji was very important for all of the squad. We needed a good reaction against Fiji after the loss against Argentina, he said.

That was a quality victory against a squad with good individuals. I believe Italy have shown themselves stronger than them (Fiji).

Now Bortolami, who became the youngest captain in Italys history when he was handed the armband as a 22-year-old on the tour of New Zealand in 2002, hopes his side can build on that display in the Six Nations.

We need some continuity, the better Italy manage to keep playing at a high level the more chance we have of beating Scotland, Ireland and Wales, added the forward, who admits his side are still nowhere near the finished article.

There is still plenty of room for improvement, which can only be reached with hard work, he said.

There are still three more months to the Six Nations. We need to ensure that we find the consistency that was missing during these three weeks (the autumn internationals).

That has to be our main objective.''

Italy, who finished bottom of last RBS 6 Nations seasons standings after losing all five of their matches, start their 2006 campaign in Ireland on February 4.