Whatever else they might have brought to the party, Italy have certainly come up with some of the more imaginative hairstyles Test rugby has ever seen since their admission to the expanded Six Nations tournament 15 years ago.

From Paul Griffen, the scrum-half who paraded the unique combination of dreadlocks and mutton chops, to the through-a-hedge-backwards look of Martin Casrtogiovanni, the Boris-like mop-top of flanker Aaron Persico and the bouffant brothers Bergamasco, the Italians might not have won too many games, but they have certainly tressed to kill.

Which brings us to the flowing locks of the flowing lock that is Josh Furno. The 25-year-old Italy forward's look suggests a personal grooming regime that relies more on wilful neglect than an extensive range of conditioning products, but his distinctive mane means you are unlikely to lose sight of him in the course of an international match. And his contributions were never more obvious than in last year's Italy - Scotland clash in Rome, when he put in a magnificently busy performance.

Furno's all-action display earned him the man of the match award. And had Duncan Weir not dropped the last-gasp dropped goal that salvaged a 21-20 victory for the Scots, he would surely have been hailed as a national hero as well. Just a few minutes before Weir's dramatic clincher, Furno had thundered over in the right corner for a try that, with Luciano Orquera's conversion added, appeared to have swung the result Italy's way.

Back then, Furno was still plying his second-row trade with Biarritz. But his performance against Scotland attracted the attention of Newcastle's Dean Richards, who snapped up the strapping second-row when the Basque side were relegated from the French Top 14 at the end of last season. Furno's energetic style has made him a firm favourite at Kingston Park, the tidy Newcastle ground where he was holding court the other day.

Furno has scored tries in each of his last two outings for the Falcons, but he one he claimed against Scotland last year - his only touchdown for Italy in 26 appearances - still bothers him. "That was really frustrating," he said firmly. "I scored my try and we were holding on to the ball pretty well in our 22 with just about a minute left. The game was pretty much gone.

"But we lost the ball and Scotland got that dropped goal. It was a really bad moment. If we had won that game it would have made a huge difference to our whole season."

In truth, the result didn't make a huge difference to Scotland's Six Nations season, which ended in ignominy a few weeks later when they were hammered 51-3 by Wales. But it did at least ensure that the Scots did not finish last in the table, the wooden spoon being taken by Italy for the 10th time in their 15 campaigns.

Will the Italians have another lump of timber in their kitchen utensils drawer at the end of this season? Obviously, Furno hopes not, but he admits that this weekend's clash with Scotland at BT Murrayfield is a make-or-break occasion as far as that item is concerned.

"This is so important for us, especially after what happened last year," he said. "We know it is a game for the taking. We're going to put everything into the game to get a win, although I know it will be tough.

"Scotland have been playing pretty good rugby recently so we know it won't be easy, but it is definitely the main game for us. We have been playing well, too, een if the results haven't been all that great.

"We have had quite a tough start to the Six Nations. We have played the top sides, Ireland and England. But although it might not seem like it from the score, we had a pretty good game against England and scored some good tries.

That was our goal because against Ireland we had just been defending for the whole 80 min. I think we made a step forward. So now, we've got Scotland and I think that is the most important one for us."

Even at a relatively young age, Furno is already with his fifth professional club, having played for Viadana, Aironi and Narbonne before he found his way to Biarritz and then Newcastle. His family background is cosmopolitan, too, for he was born in Australia, where his doctor father was working at the time, although the family moved back to Italy when he was six years old.

It is just about possible to detect an Australian drawl in his accent. It might be more significant, though, that he still cites John Eales, the great captain of the Wallabies side that won the 1999 World Cup, as his greatest hero in the game. And, it is easy to suspect, his greatest role model as well, for Furno is very much a ball-handling athlete from the Eales mould.

In which light, he is enthusiastic about the wider style that Italy coach Jacqes Brunel has tried to encourage the side to adopt. Quite literally, it plays into his hands, although he hints that Richards might hold a dimmer view of a lock who hurtles down the touchline on a regular basis.

"I try to do my best," Furno smiled. "Obviously, the coach [Richards] wants me to be more involved in the breakdown, but I try to sneak out. I really like to run with the ball, I like to be involved in the wide side of the game. But I need to do my job and the dirty work as well.

"I'm definitely enjoying the way we are trying to play the game. One of our main aims at the moment is to keep the ball and try to play a bit more with it.

"We struggled a bit in the November test matches [Italy beat Samoa but lost to Argentiona and South Africa] just in terms of keeping possession, and we had to do a lot of defending. I think we're pretty good in defence, but we have to try and get a good balance between defence and attack."