Italy captain Sergio Parisse hailed his side after they sealed two wins in the Six Nations for the first time since 2007.
Home victories over France and Ireland have seen Italy win plenty of plaudits, with leading players including Alessandro Zanni, Andrea Masi and Luke McLean all shining.
Parisse believes his side's accomplishment in 2013 is far greater than in 2007 due to the quality of the opponents they have beaten - with Italy set to take on France and Ireland in the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
"You can't compare this Six Nations with 2007 because we have secured wins against two squads with a lot of history, two of the strongest in the world," said Parisse.
"We're a squad that's improving. We play France and Ireland in the group stage of the 2015 World Cup and we have sent a strong message to them.
"There were a lot of positives in this game from a psychological point of view because there was a good balance between our backs and forwards.
"In this Six Nations we have managed to put a lot of teams under pressure. We played against some great players like Brian O'Driscoll, but have nothing to be envious of."
Comments
Webbie says...
Parisse my player of the tournament
Posted 07:42 17th March 2013