Italy's South African coach Nick Mallett is aiming to guide the country to their first ever rugby union World Cup quarter-final next year in New Zealand.

As one of the more fledgling of the major rugby nations, Italy have been making steady progress over the last few years as they try to compete with their more established foes.

They are no longer seen as a soft touch in the Six Nations but even so, the Azzurri have never made it out of the group stage at the World Cup.

But Mallett, who took over from Pierre Berbizier following the last World Cup in France, believes his players can achieve that objective, despite a tough group including Australia and Ireland.

"After three years of work I know the players and the ambience well," he said from the team's pre-season training base in Valle d'Aosta.

"I think it is very important that Benetton (Treviso) and Viadana (Aironi) have been accepted into the Celtic League because it will allow many players to play at a higher level, the fruits of which will be seen in several years."

Italy will play three internationals against Southern Hemisphere opposition in November.

And in keeping with tradition under Mallett, one of those will be against one of the Tri-Nations countries, in this case Australia, on November 20 in Florence.

They will start off against Argentina, on November 13 in Verona, and finish with a clash against Fiji, in Modena on November 27.

Two years ago they lost to both Australia and Argentina while also going down to the Pacific Islanders but last year they beat Samoa following defeats to New Zealand and South Africa.

"The Argentina match will give us the chance to get revenge for our last defeat against them, then there will be the excellent Australians and finally Fiji, who are just ahead of us in the world rankings," added Mallett.

"These will be crucial matches in the build-up to the World Cup."

AFP

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