ROME - Italy coach Nick Mallet said his team's scrummaging will be the key for them ahead of their trio of test matches later this month.

Italy start by hosting Australia in Padova next Saturday, followed by Argentina in Turin and the Pacific Islands in Parma on successive Saturdays.

And South African Mallet knows his team must concentrate on their strengths when coming up against Australia in particular.

"Australia need no introductions, they're one of the strongest teams in the world," he said.

"We know Argentina well, they will have a lot of desire to get revenge for the defeat in Cordoba (13-12 in June).

"The Pacific Islanders can count on a lot of individual skills and they will be dangerous because of this, however we've not seen a lot of them playing together as a team."

So with three intriguing clashes coming up, it's the scrum where Italy will be trying to capitalise.

"It's the strength of Italian rugby and hence I want to use it as much as possible, also because teams like the Pacific Islands and Australia are very good individually in the backs.

"In the summer matches, especially against Argentina, we played a great match in the scrum. We have to repeat that and continue to work in this way because the forwards are an important weapon for Italy."

Italian rugby is also celebrating the fact that captain and number eight Sergio Parisse has been short-listed for the world player of the year award.

"That's a fantastic thing for Italian rugby. Sergio is an incredible player and captain," said Mallet.

"His nomination is even more impressive given who the other candidates play for. I'm sure in these test matches he'll show his worth."

One thing that will again be a matter of concern for the Italians is the half-back pairing.

Mallet has decided to abandon his attempts to convert Andrea Masi from a centre to a fly-half, meaning that Treviso's Andrea Marcato is likely to start in that role but Mallet said he will also experiment with Luciano Orquera of Brive.

"Masi prefers to play in the centre or at full-back. So now I'll give another opportunity to Marcato at number 10 but at the same time in these matches I also want to try out Orquera who last year was not part of the Six Nations group and was injured before the summer tour.

"Along with (scrum-half Giulio) Toniolatti, I want to see them working within the group, particularly with the organisation of the game, something that's vital for a scrum-half and fly-half."

AFP