Irish coach Conor O’Shea speaks candidly and optimistically about what he is trying to achieve with Italy

He is trying to build something.

Often linked with any coaching opening in the Irish rugby spectrum, Conor O'Shea is eagerly awaiting his first Six Nations campaign in charge of Italy. The former Harlequins Director of Rugby took over as head coach of Italy last summer and has enjoyed a decent level of success in his short time with the Azurri. O'Shea's Italy won Test matches against Canada and the United States during the summer, while they also suffered an agonisingly close defeat to Ireland's perennial bogey side, Argentina, 30-24. Their biggest victory of 2016 came when they beat South Africa for the first time in their history. Italy dished out a 20-18 victory over the Springboks last November. As impressive as that victory was, South African rugby is at one of its lowest ebbs, and O'Shea knows the real test for his Italian side will be the upcoming Six Nations tournament. As reported by RTE Sport, O'Shea outlined his goals to the media during a recent news conference:

"Be competitive in the Six Nations is the first (goal), become the team that no one wants to face at the next World Cup must be the second.  "Contribute to change in order to give a big future to the young is the third and the most important. Our legacy is the most important thing, he added."

As rugby is ever becoming a results based business, it is refreshing that O'Shea sees the bigger picture. Ultimately he wants his tenure to contribute to the growth of the game in the country but knows that a big part of that is by being competitive. Italy will need to secure more wins in the Six Nations if they are to restore confidence to the game at home and they must avoid succumbing to regular last place finishes or 'wooden spoons'. O'Shea further adds that his side must soley focus on their own performance as it is in their control.

"I'm not stupid, I know that my work will be evaluated based on Italy's results, but I want that our focus remains totally on our performance, because we are able to control it directly," the Irish coach said.

First up for Italy is home tie against Wales and what a victory that would be if O'Shea could mastermind something special.