Italy parted company with previous coach John Kirwan after they finished bottom of last years RBS 6 Nations standings and brought in former France boss Berbizier as his replacement.

Berbizier became the second Frenchman to coach Italy in recent years after Georges Coste enjoyed a successful tenure in the mid-90s.

After Coste, the Azzurri were coached for a short time by Italian Massimo Mascioletti before New Zealanders Brad Johnstone and Kirwan were handed the national team reins.

After mixed success under the two Kiwis, Dondi felt it was time to go back to a European coach.

We returned to a French school of thought to learn to be more determined and consistent with ourselves and to play a form of rugby nearer to our mentality, Italian federation president Dondi said.

We are just a year away from the World Cup in France, and in terms of this, I doubt that the Six Nations will hold much surprise.

But I believe this change will be beneficial to our approach to this much-awaited RBS 6 Nations 2006 competition.

Italy have not made a huge impact in the RBS 6 Nations since being included in 2000, but the travelling fans love to visit Rome to watch their teams play.

Dondi believes the Stadio Flaminio needs renovations to host international rugby.

I had a talk with the Mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni, about the result but nothing positive has come out at present, he said.

We will review it ourselves on Friday, January 27 in order to renew some areas of the installation, like platforms and the press room and changing rooms, with a view to the next Six Nations competition.