Kieran Crowley believes Paolo Garbisi will one day be thought of as the Johnny Sexton of Italian rugby. The 21-year-old out-half, who plays in the Top 14 with Montpellier, was key as Italy defeated Wales in the Six Nations at the weekend.
"Paolo went to Montpellier, and the profile of their team is completely different to the profile of our team," Italy head coach Kieran Crowley told The Rugby Pod.
"He's got a forward pack in Montpellier that is just so massive that they win the advantage line all the time. He can kick all day. They'll just take it up and get lineout drive tries.
'Paolo Garbisi is going to be a world class player'
"You come to Italy, you're not going to get that. From a 10's perspective, your game management is going to be different. To be fair, he probably struggled with that in November, and a little bit at the start of this [Six Nations] campaign. I thought in the last three games, he's really bought into it. He's developed massively in that he can go from one environment to another, and change the way he manages games.
"He's going to be around for years. He's going to be a world class player. He's only 21. In 10 years time, you'll be talking about him in the same manner, maybe, as a Johnny Sexton now from an Italian point of view."
27 February 2021; Jonathan Sexton of Ireland is tackled by Marco Lazzaroni and Paolo Garbisi of Italy during the Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship match between Italy and Ireland at Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy. Photo by Roberto Bregani/Sportsfile
Italy's victory over Wales on Saturday was their first in the Six Nations since 2015. After Ange Capuozzo's sensational 79th minute break allowed Eduardo Padovani to touch down for a late try, Crowley remained stony faced in the coaches' box. He did not want to celebrate until Garbisi kicked the conversion and the final whistle was blown.
"I've been around for a little while," said Crowley, a World Cup winner with New Zealand in 1987.
"The first thing I looked at when he scored the try was the clock, and how long to go. Are they going to kick off again? That was my initial reaction. I calculated there was about 1:24. I thought, 'OK, they can't kick off again. Jesus, he better get this kick!' Everyone was jumping up and down, 'We've won, we've won'. I said, 'Listen guys, I've seen this before, just hold it'.
"I did [shed a tear], to be quite honest. I had Marius Goosen there, he's been six years with the national team and he's never won a Six Nations game. He's a pretty hard ass guy but he walked straight out and just cried.
"That's great too because it just shows you how involved the guys are, and how much it means to them."
Crowley added that some of the headlines about Saturday's game have annoyed him.
"I just see all the reports, everyone goes that 'Wales were terrible' and 'Wales never turned up'," he said.
"To be quite honest, it pisses me off. No one gives Italy the credit for actually playing well, and staying in the game. It was the same against Scotland.
"I've seen a massive growth in our players in this Six Nations in the way they work off the field. You see the on field performance but the way they work off the field, and the environment that Michele Lamaro is driving, and some of those other players like Padovani, Ruzza and Igancio Brex has been massive."
27 February 2022; Paolo Garbisi of Italy during the Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship match between Ireland and Italy at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
See Also: Harsh Truths Uttered In Wales Huddle After Defeat To Italy
