Ease Up on Italy – Progress is Apparent

Recent performances against Wales and Ireland saw the Italians coming off second best without meeting expectations. Yet the past provides insight into the present and also the future. There is reason to say ease up on Italy – progress is apparent.

Failures
A lot has been going wrong, this cannot be denied. Italy’s losses have coincided with Georgia’s rise, downing the likes of Canada, Romania, Samoa and Tonga.

Calls for Georgia to be embraced are gaining ground. So much so that Rugby Europe is to officially request a Six Nations barrage play-off. This comes after the Six Nations CEO John Feehan ruled out the possibility of relegation.

Italy’s teams in the Guinness Pro 12 have not succeeded. Aironi’s two-year’s in the competition were disastrous, forcing the team to go defunct and be replaced by Zebre. The Parma-based Zebre have not competed at the required level and nor have Treviso.

Changed to the European Champions Cup decreased Italy’s involvement from two to one team. It did not see rise to a stronger performer. Indeed, those pooled with an Italian side have been grateful – a far easier task than playing at the the Stade Marcel Michelin, Thomond Park or Welford Road.

Both Treviso and Parma are northern Italian cities. The same is true of Viadana, the home of the former Aironi. The two cities are in fact located just 40 minutes apart by car. Treviso is 3 hours away and is also in the north. Rome is 3 hours south of Parma and is very much located in Central Italy.

Azzurri captain, Sergio Parisse, is just one instance of an important figure calling for Zebre to move to Rome. Not only is the logistical argument important but so too is the strategic one. Rome is Italy’s largest city, bringing with it more marketability than Parma or Viadana.

The FIR also pulled-out of bidding to host Rugby World Cup 2023. The bid started well and included an impressive list of 12 venues. None of Parma, Viadana or Treviso were included. Instead the FIR went for the country’s largest cities and stadiums. The bid had seven cities north of Rome and three to the south. Rome itself had two venues.

There is light
The above does not provide a favorable impression. Yet there has been tremendous progress in the area of player eligibility.

Often criticized as failing to produce home-grown talent, Italy is fielding fewer players from abroad than a number of rivals. Italy’s roster for the 2017 Six Nations has 8 players born abroad. All but two have been playing in the country since 2009 or earlier. This is nothing short of a remarkable transformation.

Rewind to Rugby World Cup 2007 to fully understand. In that tournament Italy’s crucial pool game was against Scotland. The team’s met in St Etienne, with Scotland winning 18-16. Chris Paterson kicked all of Scotland’s points while Alessandro Troncon scored the game’s only try. These two players are among the greatest of the professional era from both nations.

The players found themselves surrounded by teammates qualifying on eligibility grounds. Scotland had six starting players qualifying as such – Rob Dewey, Jim Hamilton, Nathan Hines, Gavin Kerr, Dan Parks and Simon Webster.

Italy not only matched Scotland but overpowered them. David Bortolussi, Gonzalo Canale, Martín Castrogiovanni, Santiago Dellapé, Carlo Del Fava, Sergio Parisse, Ramiro Pez, Kaine Robertson and Josh Sole all qualified on eligibility grounds. Nine of the starting XV were, in other words, born abroad.

Five of these players were from Argentina. The South American country’s economic crisis of 2001-2002 combined with rugby’s strictly amateur status and Los Pumas’ exclusion on the international stage combined to explain the large migration to Italy. This has all changed with a stable economy and professional rugby arriving in Argentina. It cut a regular and quality supply of players to Italy.

PladAR has ensured that Argentina’s best young talent are kept at home. Consider the 2011 side that lost the vital match against Ireland in Dunedin. Canale, Castrogiovanni and Parisse remained. Luciano Orquera and Gonzalo Garcia joined them, again giving Italy five Argentine starting players. Additional imports included second-rowers Quentin Geldenhuys and Corniel Van Zyl.

Future Optimism
Italy’s Rugby World Cup 2007 and 2011 sides were thereby highly dependent on imports. In 2015 Italy again faced a do-or-die prospect against Ireland. The Italians had their opportunities but fell 16-9. Three Argentine players started – Garcia, Parisse and Matías Aguero. Geldenhuys also started with Raffaele Joshua Furno being the remaining player from abroad. Born in Australia, Furno grew up in Italy and went through the FIR academy.

Scotland’s current roster has 18 foreign-born players, more than double that of Italy. The Italians faced Wales with Luke McLean, Ornel Gega, George Biagi, Abraham Steyn and Sergio Parisse as the foreign-born players. Against Ireland Dries van Schalkwyk, McLean and Parisse started while Biagi, Gega and Steyn missed out.

Against Ireland three starting players were not Italian born. The bench was similar with Furno being the only player born abroad. Scotland’s team against Ireland featured Allan Dell, Sean Maitland, Tommy Seymour, Josh Strauss, Hamish Watson and Ryan Wilson, some six players from abroad. This is the same number from the 2007 pool match. Furthermore, four additional eligibility players – Simon Bergham, John Hardie, Ali Price and Tim Swinson were all replacements against France the following weekend.

Diego Dominguez is often credited as Italy’s star, playing for them from 1991-2003. He scored 17 points to defeat Ireland 22-12 in 1995. In 1997 he would defeat Ireland twice, completing 22 and 27 point hauls. In the 1990’s he would also score 20 points in wins over by France and Scotland. Yet Dominguez played two tests for Los Pumas before getting the call from Italy.

Under Conor O’Shea Italy have already beaten South Africa. This ought not be downplayed and neither should the reality that Ireland, Scotland and Wales are all excellent teams right now. The sides that faced Italy prior to the Six Nations were all weak by comparison.

Ease Up on Italy – Progress is Apparent. Just look at those putting on the Italian uniforms to play.