Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

'His physique makes you hesitate rather than confident of taking him on'

Paolo Garbisi /Getty

England may have the mercurial talents of Marcus Smith, but Italy possesses their own brilliant outside half in Paolo Garbisi who is also destined to be a rugby superstar.

ADVERTISEMENT

That is the verdict of former All Black Bruce Reihana, the ex-Northampton captain, who is skills coach at rejuvenated Montpellier, where Garbisi has eclipsed Springbok World Cup winner Handre Pollard to grab the No10 jersey.

Despite Italy’s dreadful record of 33 successive Six Nations defeats, Reihana believes 21-year-old Garbisi has the talent and physique to cause England real problems in Rome.

Video Spacer

Scotland’s search for a Slam, Sir Clives’s Rebuke & The Real Paddy Power | RugbyPass Offload | Episode 20

Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
Duration 54:32
Loaded: 0%
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time 54:32
 
1x
    • Chapters
    • descriptions off, selected
    • captions off, selected
    • en (Main), selected
    Video Spacer

    Scotland’s search for a Slam, Sir Clives’s Rebuke & The Real Paddy Power | RugbyPass Offload | Episode 20

    Garbisi, 6ft and 14st 7lbs, carries a major threat with his goal kicking which has taken him to fourth place in the Top 14 leading scorers with 121 points in his debut season in France with Montpellier currently on an eight-game unbeaten run.

    RUGBYU-FRA-TOP14-LA ROCHELLE-MONTPELLIER
    Montpellier’s Italian fly-half Paolo Garbisi (L) is tackled by La Rochelle’s South African centre Raymond Rhule during the French Top14 rugby union match between Stade Rochelais (La Rochelle) and Montpellier at the Marcel-Deflandre stadium (Photo by XAVIER LEOTY / AFP) (Photo by XAVIER LEOTY/AFP via Getty Images)

    Reihana said: “Paolo and Marcus Smith will be a great battle at No10 and it will be really fascinating to see how they go. Paolo has the potential to be a big star and what I enjoy about Paolo is that he is really coachable and understands what it takes to be good and is hungry.

    “Paolo can make things difficult for England and if Italy ensure the 12 and 13 have his back then you will see his true talent by giving him a freedom to be a threat.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    “I am sure England will have talked about trying to put pressure on him, but when you see someone with his physique it makes you hesitate rather than confident of taking them on. He takes everything on board and his work ethic is phenomenal which makes him so good at this age but he has so much more to develop.

    “He is a great talent and arrived at Montpellier with a great skills set; his passing was sharp, has a lot of power, his footwork, agility and kicking is already at a high standard and with time he will get even better. Paolo was already selected by the club when I arrived and I knew about him as a new kid on the block and a potential star of the future.”

    Reihana has also warned England that trying to physically intimidate Garbisi will be a waste of time as the 21-yeard-old has developed the kind of body normally featured in men’s health magazines. He explained: “Paolo has a muscular physique and I am pretty sure he has worked really hard to get that strong muscle tone. That is down to true professionalism and we saw after he arrived at Montpellier that he is very diligent in the gym with his stretching and his recovery is on the money.

    Related

    “He has been doing this from an early age and is still developing and it will be interesting to see where he can get to in the next few years. He is part of the new generation and these youngsters recognise that they have to start earlier to make their bodies stronger because the contact area these days is brutal.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    “In the Top14 he has been great handling the pressure and because he is passionate and works so hard when he is in those (difficult) situations he can make the right decisions. The biggest thing I talk to Paolo about is when you make mistakes then it is about the next job and to switch onto that and go again.”

    Having arrived at Montpellier from Italy this season, Garbisi, who has 11 caps and 64 points for Italy, helped the club knock Exeter out of the Heineken Champions Cup to reach the last 16 with his left footed kicking a major asset.

    “Paolo is one of those 10s who is in top shape and is such a humble kid. He is very professional, easy to coach and listens well:” added Reihana. “On his kicking, I have worked with him about keeping his composure and to take every kick as if it is his last and then reset. His technique is good and he has an ability to transfer his weight through the kick to get power. That is why he gets such good distance.

    “Paolo and Handre offer different capabilities and we have found they can be at 10 and 12 in the (Montpellier) team. The best 10-12 combination I have seen in the Top 14 was Jonny Wilkinson and Matt Giteau at Toulon – it was phenomenal and they just controlled the game and were able to kick off left and right. They were also very intelligent players who could get their team out of trouble with good decisions.

    “For Italy to get Paolo and Tommy Allen (now at Harlequins) playing together could be really important and with the improvement at club level in Italy means players are now able to step up to test level. “

    ADVERTISEMENT

    O2 Inside Line: This Rose | Episode 1

    New Zealand v Ireland | Rugby World Cup 1995 | The Vaults

    Behind the scenes with the NEW ZEALAND women's sevens team in Perth | HSBC SVNS Embedded | Episode 5

    Argentina v Australia | HSBC SVNS Perth 2025 | Men's Final Match Highlights

    New Zealand v Australia | HSBC SVNS Perth 2025 | Women's Final Match Highlights

    The Dupont Ploy: How France went from underdogs to Olympic gods | The Report

    Former rugby player is truly an NFL superstar | Walk the Talk | Jordan Mailata

    Boks Office | Episode 33 | Dupont's Toulouse Too Good

    Trending on RugbyPass

    Comments

    0 Comments
    Be the first to comment...

    Join free and tell us what you really think!

    Sign up for free
    ADVERTISEMENT

    Latest Features

    Comments on RugbyPass

    R
    RedWarrior 22 minutes ago
    Many England fans echoing the same gripe following Six Nations loss

    The English defense was excellent in the first half. This is considering Ireland's attack has improved significantly since the Autumn with former Leinster attack coach Goodman. Ireland were beaten by NZ in the Autumn, are behind SA and arguably behind France so de facto 4th in order (rankings take time to catch up) As Eddie Jones said Ireland are still in that elite group so England's domination in the first half is noteworthy.

    I believe they have spent the time since the Autumn largely on defence. On broken play they were relying on Smiths instint along with some jiggery pokery. For Smiths early line break a Twindaloo blocked Baird which left the gap for smith. It looked like he did Aki, but Baird was a little late arriving and clever play by Tom Curry allowed the gap for Smith. Earls line break was Smith spotting Baird coming out and beating him with a beautiful pass to Earl.

    We saw the rehearsed plays for a couple of Ireland's tries. The Aki try was just identifying that England tended to hide Smith on the wing creating a vulnerability which Ireland exploited with one of Akis great finishes.

    Although Ireland were relaxing at the end the two English tries were good enough quality and we may see more of it next week (Scotland will also have taken note).

    Although on the easier side of the draw Borthwick almost took England to a RWC final.

    But in common with the top4 you need to have firepower to get those tries in big games. Can Borthwick manage that? I don't think so.

    Next week even if England have a great first half again, you would be looking at France converting 3 of those Irish chances and pushing on after the break.

    Can Borthwick develop a plan to beat France in the next few years. If the answer is no England need to find someone who can.

    9 Go to comments
    LONG READ
    LONG READ Mick Cleary: 'It's about time England started shaping their own narrative and got the job done.' Mick Cleary: 'It's about time England started shaping their own narrative and got the job done.'
    Search