Berbizier took over the reins from New Zealander John Kirwan last April and even though Italy finished bottom of this years RBS 6 Nations table after losing four of their five games, Dondi has been impressed by the improvement shown under the Frenchman.

Certainly the appointment of Pierre Berbizier has been more than welcome for us, FIR president Dondi said.

He has been able to work with great passion and ease. In fact, you can see the great job he has done in less than a year.

The goal, according to Dondi, is now to continue that development when they face Japan and Fiji this summer.

Those two matches are part of a bigger picture, though, as Italy build towards next years RBS 6 Nations and World Cup, where Dondi expects the Azzurri to get through to the last eight.

After a positive RBS 6 Nations in February/March, we must keep going in this direction, Dondi added.

Our road is still difficult but we are making great progress, which will be good for the next big assignments such as the RBS 6 Nations 2007 and the World Cup in France, where our target is to reach the quarter-finals, he said.