In O'Shea's first Six Nations Championship, Italy lost all five games and failed to pick up a single point for the table. Despite leading Wales 7–3 in the opening round, they conceded 30 points in the second half to lose 33–7. This was followed by a loss to Ireland 63–10 and a loss to England despite also leading England at Twickenham 10–5 at half time and still within a score to win at the 60th minute. A loss to France 40–18 meant it was guaranteed Italy would finish bottom. The last week saw Italy fail to score any points against Scotland, losing 29–0. During Italy's June tests, Italy failed to win a game, losing to Scotland 34–13 in Singapore, Fiji 22–19 with a last minute drop goal by Ben Volavola to seal the victory for Fiji, before going onto lose to Australia 40–27. However the score was 28–27 with less than five minutes to go in the game, but two quick tries by the Wallabies saw them comfortably win the game. The 2017 end-of-year tests saw Italy gain a single victory in three tests, defeating Fiji 19–10, but losing to Argentina 15–31 and South Africa 6–35.