Mallett proud despite results

Roman God: Mallett rates his captain, Sergio Parisse, as Europe's best number eight

Italy coach Nick Mallett insists he is happy with the performances of his players in the Six Nations despite them having yet to win a game.

The Azzurri face Scotland at home in the last game of the 2008 tournament and need to win by at least five points to avoid taking the wooden spoon.

But although Italy have yet to taste victory this year, they pushed England, Ireland and France all the way and gave Mallett reason to be "very proud".

Mallett also branded number eight Sergio Parisse as the best player in his position in the competition.

"I'm satisfied with how all my players have performed in this Six Nations," he said.

"Sergio Parisse is a class player and captain. I believe he is the best number eight of the tournament and I'm happy I gave him the captaincy.

"I'm very pleased with the positive attitude of the entire squad. They have made me very proud because they showed how much they wanted to grow up as players and because of the determination they showed to me and my staff.

"Against the Irish we lost by five points, against England we played well and were close to a historic win and against the French we lost again but the final score was close.

"We are playing good rugby and we can finish the tournament on a high against Scotland but there is still lots of work to do."

Mallett, however, admits facing a Scotland side high on confidence after their triumph over England last weekend will not be an easy task.

"The Scots were great against England," he said.

"They've got a great squad and they really impress me. As always, it will not be easy for us but we want to win, and win playing well as a team.

"In our first four games we have shown how good we are, despite the young age of our players. We showed how great our pack is and our forwards are getting better and better."

Mallett also reserved special praise for the level of support from Italy's fans and urged them to roar his side to victory in Rome on Saturday.

"It will be very important for us to play at the Flaminio," said the South African.

"Our fans are very passionate and against England they supported us in a fantastic spirit.

"They were chanting all the time and I hope against the Scots they will support us in the same way."