Zebre Shakes Up Coaching Staff

Michael Bradley, former coach of Connacht and Edinburgh and current coach of struggling Italian side Zebre, has opted the shake up his coaching staff before the resumption of the Pro14 competition.

Alessandro Troncon and Carlo Orlandi have been replaced by Fabio Roselli and Andrea Moretti as backs and forwards coaches respectively.

“After thanking Orlandi and Troncon, it was right to welcome two coaches who have done very well with the national academy and the U20 national team,” said Andrea de Rossi, Zebre team manager, “Both have been protagonists of a path of progression and growth towards the highest level so it is natural to give them this chance. They arrived here in May and immediately made themselves available to Michael and all the coaching staff for the first meetings. 

“I’m sure they will do well and above all, they won’t have any problem fitting in as they know most of the players, many of whom have come from the academy and the U20 national team.”

Bradley appears optimistic about Zebre’s future under a new-look coaching unit:

“We are not happy with the results to date but the direction the team is going in, we have got a much better team this year. People from the teams that we have played recognise that as well and have set their teams up accordingly.

“For the first time we have the ability to rest and rotate players which puts us on the same level as most of the other sides, so we will stick with the brand of rugby we are trying to play which is keeping the ball alive, keeping it up off the ground, keeping it fast. 

“We will make mistakes but if we keep practising and keep our focus on this area, we will get better and better and we will start knocking over some decent teams and getting to the play-off side of things.”