Nick Mallett

Nicholas Vivian Howard "Nick" Mallett ( born October 30, 1956 in Haileybury, Hertfordshire, England ) is a former South African rugby union player and current coach of the Italian national team.

Mallett began his playing career during his studies at the University of Cape Town. He was appointed to the Currie Cup Team of the Western Province and played for a year for the selection. In 1979 he moved to Oxford University, where he played alongside rugby and cricket for the university team. After a year he went back to South Africa and was back for the Western Province active. He succeeded with the team for four consecutive times to win the Currie Cup. In 1984 he was rewarded with two appearances in the South African national team.

Mallets coaching career began with a commitment to the Football Club de Saint -Claude in France, for which he was also active as a player. He went in 1990 to the Athletic Club de Boulogne- Billancourt and was there for three years coach. In 1994 he returned to South Africa and took over the coaching job at False Bay Rugby Club. He was then hired by the Boland Cavaliers, with whom he reached the quarterfinals in the Currie Cup. After two seasons with Boland was appointed him as assistant coach of the national team. After a year as an assistant, he took over the management of the national selection. The Springboks had previously lost to the British and Irish Lions and at the Tri Nations badly. However, he led the team as head coach quickly back to the world's best. It succeeded the Springboks to win 17 games in a row. Among other things, the victory in the Tri Nations in 1998 falls into this time. In the 1999 World Cup but the national team was unable to repeat the success. A dispute with the captain Gary Teichmann and the association led to his resignation in 2000.

Mallett was drawn again from South Africa to France, where he took over as coach at Stade Français after resigning as coach. 2003 and 2004 the club won the French championship. After these successes he was re- hired by the Western Province, this time. Rather than coach but as Director of Rugby In 2007, he took over the leadership of the Italian national team. His first tournament was the Six Nations 2008, in which Italy was able to win against Scotland and all four games lost. In December 2009 he took over the management of the Barbarians, and led them to a victory over New Zealand.