What A Difference A Game Makes

Saturday 19th of March 2022 - the day Italian rugby ended its 36 game losing streak in the Six Nations. The day that rugby fans around the world celebrated the success of one of the most derided teams in sport. The day that Italy put to bed the debate regarding their participation in the championship. The day that everyone asked ‘How do you pronounce Capuozzo?’ (Think Cap-what-so, not Cap-oot-so).

A lot has already been said about the brilliance of Ange Capuozzo, the flair of Monty Ioane, the tenacity of Michele Lamaro and the joyful tears of Paolo Garbisi. Therefore I want to focus on some of the unsung heroes both in Cardiff and the rest of the championship. Starting with Danilo Fischetti. Fischetti has been immense all tournament and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him snapped up from a struggling Zebre Parma team. He has solidified his scrum work which previously might have been a weak point in his game. His real strength is in the loose where his small stock allows him to get around the park, putting in lots of work both in defence and at the breakdown. Second only to Ioane in dominant tackles (6), second only to Toa Halafihi in turnovers won (5) and joint second in the championship for scrum penalties won (4). His stamina and speed is unreal for a prop forward, shown by the fact that he ranked third amongst Italy’s forwards for most minutes played in the championship. The fact that he lost a huge amount of weight during the pandemic might’ve helped in this department but it is still very impressive and if he loses any more weight we might see him filling in for the back row at some point in his exciting future. The other player I wanted to mention was Federico Ruzza who has really grown in to becoming Italy’s first choice lock. Ruzza has topped the championship’s charts for line-outs won (28) and has introduced a physicality to his defence that is needed to be an international lock. Add all of that to his great offloading ability and he has made himself an indispensable asset to Kieran Crowley. He played just 13 minutes less than Lamaro did all championship, showing his importance to the team. Lastly is Ignacio Brex who on the surface seems like a relatively slow outside centre with a habit of jumping the gun in defence. But delving deeper into Italy’s defensive coordinator you see that Brex’s ability to read opponents attacking plays allowed him to cause a kind of chaos that played into Italy’s hands. It didn’t always work and sometimes left him in no-mans land but his 57 tackles during the championship make him the top tackling back, 12 ahead of the next (Gael Fickou/Paolo Garbisi) and is exactly what Italy needed to fluster better opposition.

The significance of Italy’s win against Wales cannot be underestimated. The fact that Italy yet again finished bottom of the table, with a points difference of -121, has been completely forgotten due to that singular ‘1’ in the win column. A wooden spoon that can be added to the trophy cabinet. It is the thing that Italian rugby has been missing for seven long years and everyone involved with Italian rugby will feel a significant weight off their shoulders. It will act as a massive morale booster for fans who have endured one of the most painful periods in international sport. But if this result showed one thing it is that it will take more than one win to turn the Italian public and media on to rugby. Whilst the result in Cardiff created shockwaves around the rugby world you would have struggled to have found much fanfare south of the Tiber in Italy. For Italy to realise its potential of a sleeping rugby giant the national team will not only need to be consistently competitive in matches but also consistently beating Tier 1 teams. This squad might not be at that stage yet but what is promising is how young this team is. Key players such as Capuozzo (22), Garbisi (21), Lamaro (23), and Gianmarco Lucchesi (21) will all be going to their first World Cup next summer and should be available for at least another 2 after that. Just as exciting as the young talent available are the players who missed the match in Cardiff but will be returning to make the squad even stronger. Italy were missing their best two hookers (Lucchesi & Hame Faiva) as well as their best two tight-head props (Marco Riccioni & Giosue Zilocchi). Add to that the likes of Jake Polledri, Matteo Minozzi, Seb Negri, Tommaso Allan and (maybe) even the likes Sergio Parisse and Michele Campagnaro and you have a seriously competitive squad. All big time players who can bring experience and knowhow to a young team gaining confidence. 

The 2023 World Cup may be a bit too early for this squad to make a serious impact on the rugby elite, especially when they have been drawn in a group with France and New Zealand, arguably the two best teams in the world right now. Italy’s next set of fixtures do provide them with a chance to gather some momentum and improve their status in the IRB rankings. Summer games against Georgia, Spain and (most likely) Romania are followed by an Autumn series of (most likely) the USA, Australia and South Africa. This means Italy could enter the match against Australia on the back of a 5 match winning streak. It will be their best chance of beating the Wallabies in a long time but even if Italy don’t win that match they will enter the next Six Nations in a different mindset. A mindset that has got more used to playing with the ball, attacking and winning. This also creates an atmosphere where other teams will prepare for their games against Italy with a different mindset. Where before teams would prepare on how to exploit Italy’s weaknesses they will now have to also think about how to counteract Italy’s strengths. Teams will have to show Italy a respect that will make Crowley and Lamaro happy chaps.

Whilst the win against Wales rightfully takes the headlines there were also many positives to come out of the U20 championship where Italy picked up 3 wins for the first time in their history. The most iconic of these being a 6 - 0 maiden victory against England. A game which was probably the best game I have ever seen an Italian rugby team play. The physicality of the forwards was like nothing else I’ve seen. Signified by the fact that Italy’s front 3 played 80 minutes and were still forcing the English pack back at the end. Once they make it to the international level they will go into games against the other 6 nations knowing that they have already beaten a lot of the opposing players at U20 level. Players from the other nations will go into matches fearful of a repeat of what happened from their younger years. But with these positives also comes a challenge for Italian rugby. Can they provide a pathway for the talents of the U20 team through the franchises in the United Rugby Championship (URC) and then on to the national team? We have already seen that players like Tomasso Menoncello and Leonardo Marin have quickly acclimatised to life at Benetton and have therefore entered the national setup. I could name endless players from this set of U20s who could make the same transition but a special mention has to go to prop duo Luca Rizzoli and Riccardo Genovese, as well as captain Giacamo Ferrari. These guys are serious talents. What will be interesting is if they are pilfered by a rich and already bloated Benetton team or whether they choose to become the saviours of a struggling Zebre. Zebre are in serious need of an identity to avoid being moved at the end of next season to a different location (Petrarca or Milan among the suiters). An influx of young talent from this U20s group could provide the motivation for the Italian federation to continue with the Parma project. Zebre was always meant to be the federations way of exposing young players to the professional game. If it could be branded as the face of the new, young Italian rugby movement then the Parma public and investors could be more easily enthused to support their local side.

Another question is how the federations new academy system will avoid the young talent who fail to secure professional contracts from falling through the cracks. Both Benetton and Zebre will now have their own academies but what effect will this have on a) the players game time and b) the Top10 where many of the players would’ve ended up. A lot remains to be seen and I get the feeling this summer will be one of great upheaval, especially at Zebre. One thing is for sure, the winning feeling is starting to become addictive and I can finally see the light at the end of a dark tunnel that was the past 7 years. 

Ed ora il Sei Nazioni femminile! Continua così Italia!