Nick Mallett, Head Coach of Italy, has clarified the position following comments made at a press conference before the match against Ireland in Rome on 5 February, which gave the mistaken impression that the referee, Romain Poite, had written a letter of apology to the Italian Rugby Federation following the 2010 RBS 6 Nations match between Ireland and Italy in Dublin.

Acknowledging that the letter had never existed, Nick Mallett said “I have already apologised to Romain and I am happy to put the record straight after I was reported as saying that Romain had written to us last year. I did not intend to put undue pressure on him prior to our match last week but accept that this may have been a consequence”.