Brad Johnstone has been axed as coach of the Italian national rugby side, after months of speculation.

The New Zealander will be replaced by compatriot John Kirwan in the post.

Kirwan scored 35 tries in 63 tests, including a memorable solo effort in New Zealand's 70-6 demolition of Italy in their opening 1987 World Cup match.

He played club rugby in Italy during the 1980s, is married to an Italian and speaks the language fluently.

Johnstone paid the price for failing to build on a impressive start to his career - when he guided Italy to victory over Scotland in their first ever Six Nations game.

And he was sacked following a Italian Rugby Federation (FIR) meeting on Friday, as BBC Sport Online exclusively revealed.

Player revolt

"It is true that Brad Johnstone is no longer in charge of the national side, " an FIR spokeswoman said.

Johnstone endured fierce criticism during this year's Six Nations campaign and Italy again ended the championship bottom of the heap.

Earlier in the year, he had a well-documented showdown with senior players, some of whom were publically critical of his approach.

In particular, fly-half Diego Dominguez expressed his dissatisfaction.

Since taking over from Georges Coste in January 2000, Johnstone managed to guideguided the Azzurri from 14th to 11th in the Zurich World Rankings.