Blindside and Openside Flanker - No. 6 & 7 (The Truffle Pigs)

For nearly a decade the flanker partnership of Alessandro Zanni and Mauro Bergamasco was the glue that held Italy together. Italy's reliance on the two players over the period saw both reach 100 international caps. But Bergamasco's retirement and Zanni's progression to lock created a void in the back row. Simone Favaro came in to become a fan favourite by putting his body on the line at any opportunity. Smashing any opposing player close enough with his huge tackles. After a successful spell with Glasgow Warriors, Favaro fell out of love with the professional game and decided to go back to his roots playing in the Top12. Since the end of the Zanni, Bergamasco and Favaro generation a new set of players have been gearing up to take the reigns and Italy are now inundated with Flankers all fighting for a place in the starting lineup. At the top of this pile are the former Hartbury College duo of Sebastian Negri and Jake Polledri. These two players have had Italian fans licking their lips with anticipation of what could be one of the best flank partnerships in Italy's history. Both love carrying the ball into contact and their ability to beat the tackle not only leads to line breaks but also to clean, quick ball for the scrum-half. Too often in recent years Italy's lack of explosive ball carriers has forced their front five forwards to work harder at the break down, allowing opposition defences to organise. With these two there is no such problem. Over their short time in the Italian team they have rarely played together due to competing with Braam Steyn, but with Sergio 'God' Parisse now retiring their is an opportunity for them to form a real partnership.

As mentioned in my last post, Zebre have two great young back row talents in Giovanni Licata and Renato Giammoroli. Along with these two Zebre also posses a number of more experienced Italian back rowers. Maxime Mbanda (27-years-old), Johan Meyer (26-years-old) and Jimmy Tuavati (32-years-old) all provide a different option on the flank if needed. Mbanda in recent times has supplied Italy with a classic blindside flanker in that a lot of his defensive work in the tackle and breakdown goes unnoticed. But an injury has now ruled him out until the end of the season along with Meyer's suspension for the first three matches of the Six Nations. In years gone by an injury and suspension in the same position would cause chaos for Italy. Thankfully those days are long gone with a number of young players breaking through the ranks.

Jake Polledri (Age: 24 Caps: 13)

Italian rugby would be in a very dire place if it wasn't for the potential Jake Polledri. In his first 13 games for Italy he has already become their star player and is likely to become central to their game plan for at least the next 4 years. As mentioned before, Polledri has gone through a very different development compared to the other young players in the squad. He (along with national flank partner Seb Negri) attended the highly thought of Hartpury College, which seems to produce a never ending stream of rugby players. He went on to play for Hartpury RFC helping them achieve promotion to the English Championship in 2017. From here he signed a professional contract with Gloucester and has been breaking tackles ever since. The thing I love most about his play is that, unlike other big ball carriers, it isn't his size that allows him to break the tackle but his technique. He uses the initial contact with the defender to bounce off them and then seems to just casually strolls past them around the outside. I can remember him making his debut against Scotland in the Six Nations (2018) and being more excited than any other players debut I can remember. Since then every match he plays ends up with me screaming at the television 'Pass the ball to Polledri! Pass the ball to Polledri!', as whenever he gets the ball something happens. It is dangerous to put so much hope in one player, especially at the age of 24, but with Polledri you just feel that he is a special talent.

Could Polledri make a good centre? 

Sebastian Negri (Age: 25 Caps: 22)

At 25 with 22 caps under his belt I really get the feeling that Sebastian Negri da Oleggio (Seb Negri for short) is reaching his peak. He is yet another of Italy's back rowers who loves to carry the ball. He had a very interesting path to the national team, growing up in Zimbabwe before moving to South Africa where he played his youth rugby for Western Province. At this time he was already on the radar of the Italian Federation and received a call up to the under-20 team. He then made the move to Hartpury College to study Sports Business and play some amateur rugby with a young Jake Polledri. After some promising performances with the Emerging Italy team (Italy-A side) it became clear that Negri was an exciting prospect for Italy and Benetton soon snapped him up on a professional contract. Since then he has been a key player for the Treviso side and a name that excites Italian rugby fans. Like Polledri, his ball carrying ability is immense and he has provided Benetton with a constant outlet in attack. But because of the depth at flanker he has never been able to settle down into his role with the national side. All that will change this Six Nations where he will likely be Franco Smith's first choice at No. 6. He has a good relationship with Braam Steyn from his time with Benetton and a good relationship with Polledri from Hartpury College making this back row something to get really excited about.

Negri denied his first Six Nations try

Marco Lazzaroni (Age: 24 Caps: 4)

I will always have a soft spot for Marco Lazzaroni as he was one of the first Italian rugby players I ever met. From that experience I learnt that he is physically an absolute monster. As I posed for a photo it felt like putting my arm around a boulder. Since then Lazzaroni has seen a lot more game time with Benetton and has been rewarded with a re-call to the national squad. Under O'Shea he was brought into the squad but only managed a handful of appearances off the bench. Now he is a much more experienced player and will be looking to really press for more game time with the national team. I have a feeling that this may not necessarily be on the flank. With both Alessandro Zanni and Dean Budd reaching the end of their international careers I think that Lazzaroni's powerful tall physique makes him more than capable of playing in the second row and I wonder whether this may be his path to a starting place. 

As if all of the players mentioned above weren't enough, there are two more youngsters at Benetton who will feel confident in making their international debut over the next few years. Giovanni Pettinelli (23-years-old) has featured heavily for Benetton in both this and last years campaigns. It is about time that Pettinelli had the chance to prove himself in the national setup and that is why he was called up to the squad as a replacement for the injured second row David Sisi. Although dropped from the 31 man squad for the first round trip to Cardiff, the experience of joining the national team should provide him with an added motivation. Like Lazzaroni, it may be that providing an option in the second row will be an easier path to the national team. At 6'4" he has the height of a lock forward while remaining extremely athletic. A partnership with Federico Ruzza would provide Italy with a extremely mobile second row. Another player I have to mention is 21-year-old Michele Lamaro. Although he wont feature in this years Six Nations, after recently returning from injury, he is one of the most highly rated youngsters in Italy. The former under-20 captain has been another success story for the developmental side of Italian rugby. Being a permit player for Benetton has allowed him to gently make the step up from the Top12 to the Pro14. His early performances for Benetton suggested his career was progressing better than many had expected but a knee injury in February 2019 put this to a halt. He is now back fit but will need to re-establish himself in the Benetton team before making the next step up to the national team. His recovery from injury has occurred just at the right time though as he is likely to receive much more game time while many players are on international duty.

Pettinelli impressing while playing for Calvisano in the Top12