ROME (Reuters) – Italy will be aiming for more than just a match when they face England in Rome on Saturday at the end of the Six Nations campaign, Flanker Bram Stein said on Tuesday.

“I think any team can give their race a run for their money. We have proven this before. We are going to give them a real journey. We believe in ourselves, we believe in what we do,” he said as Italy continued their preparations.

They host an England team that has the potential to win the Six Nations title, especially if they win a bonus point against the hosts.

Italy lost 50-17 to Ireland in Dublin last Saturday, and have now lost 26 consecutive Six Nations matches, but Stein insisted they were heading for a 2015 victory.

“Obviously we want to win, we want to achieve a result. We are determined to stop them and show England what we can do. ”

The defeat in Dublin was the result of several mistakes by the Italians, he added at a news conference.

“Many of the points our opponent has made are from mistakes we have made. We work to be more clinical in the attack and to prevent favorable conditions from becoming opportunities for our opponents. ”

“This is a new chapter that started under coach Franco Smith, and Kovid-19 interrupted the pandemic. Things were tough in Italy and we are completely locked out compared to the opportunities we still have to train others in other countries.

“We literally had to start from scratch a few months ago, and there’s been a lot of good growth when we study the statistics,” Stein added.

(Written by Mark Gleeson of Cape Town; Hugh Lawson Editing)