Italy national rugby union team

The Italy national rugby union team for New Zealand RWC 2011

 

 

Italy national rugby union team

The Italy national rugby union teamrepresent the nation of Italy in the sport of rugby union. The team is also known as the Azzurri (the Blues). Italy have been playing international rugby since the late 1920s, and today are considered to be in the top tier of European rugby and compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Scotland and Wales and are the current holders of the Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy played for annually against France.

Arguably, Italian Rugby really came to prominence in 2000 when it was added to the Five Nations, creating the Six Nations. Originally on the end of some heavy defeats, the side has grown in competitiveness, recorded a fourth place finish in 2007, and even in defeat, lop-sided losses are becoming far less frequent. The Azzurri have particularly shown admirable results when playing at home in recent years. During the 2011 Six Nations, the side played three home games which resulted in an exhilerating 22-21 victory over France and were only 12 points in combined deficit to securing victories over Ireland and Wales, lost 11-13 and 16-24 respectively. Italy are ranked eleventh in the world by the IRB as of 21 June 2010.

Italy have also competed at every Rugby World Cup since the first tournament in 1987, but have yet to progress beyond the first round. Their best showing thus far has been in 2003 and 2007 where they managed two wins during the pool stages.

The current head coach is Nick Mallett. Number eight Sergio Parisse is their current captain.

Italy National Rugby Union
Union	Federazione Italiana Rugby
Nickname(s)	Azzurri (the Blues)
Ground(s)	Stadio Flaminio, San Siro
Coach(es)	Nick Mallett
Captain(s)	Sergio Parisse
Most caps	Alessandro Troncon (101)
Top scorer	Diego Dominguez (983)
Most tries	Marcello Cuttitta (25)
Appearances	6 (First in 1987)
Best result	Two wins during group stages, 2003 and 2007

Italy Rugby Jersey

Italy Rugby Current Team Squad RWC 2011

Nick Mallett announced 36-man training squad for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Caps updated before test matches.

Head Coach: Nick Mallett

Hooker: Tommaso D’Apice, Leonardo Ghiraldini, Fabio Ongaro

Prop: Lorenzo Cittadini, Alberto de Marchi, Andrea Lo Cicero, Salvatore Perugini

Lock: Marco Bortolami, Carlo del Fava, Joshua Furno, Quintin Geldenhuys, Cornelius Van Zyl

Flanker: Robert Barbieri, Mauro Bergamasco, Valerio Bernabò, Paul Derbyshire, Alessandro Zanni

Number 8: Sergio Parisse (c), Manoa Vosawai

Scrum-half: Pablo Canavosio, Edoardo Gori, Fabio Semenzato

Fly-half: Riccardo Bocchino, Craig Gower, Luciano Orquera

Centre: Gonzalo Garcia, Andrea Pratichetti, Matteo Pratichetti, Alberto Sgarbi

Wing: Tommaso Benvenuti, Mirco Bergamasco, Andrea Masi, Giulio Toniolatti

Fullback: Luke McLean

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