Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
The Italian Rugby Federation (FIR) has named an all-time Azzurri Dream Team during the 6 Nations period. The team was compiled by votes on social media. The results of the official top player per position see three Argentines in the side. The twelve remaining players were all born and raised in Italy.
The Italians joined the Six Nations competition in 2000, debuting with a home win over Scotland in Rome. Scorn 29 points on that day was Diego Dominguez. The fly half from La Tablada club in Córdoba played for Argentina in 1989. He scored 27 points in his two test matches.
His next appearance was in 1991, for Italy. He moved to play for Amatori Milano in 1990 where he was a mainstay until 1997. He traded Italian club rugby for French and would become a Top 14 champion with Stade Français.
He retired from test rugby in 2004, one year after his final test cap. During his career for Italy, Domínguez played in RWCs 1991, 1999 and 2003 and the Six Nations in 2000-2003. He scored 983 test points, an Italian record. They came in 74 test matches. By way of comparison, Nicolás Sánchez is Argentina’s leading scorer with 748 points in 80 test matches for Los Pumas.
Joining Domínguez are two forwards: Martín Castrogiovanni and Sergio Parisse. The former moved to Italy as an adult from Paraná, Argentina. He did so to begin his professional career at Calvisano. He went on to be an Italian champion before joining the Leicester Tigers in 2006. He was an English Premiership champion with Leicester in 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10 and 2012–13. He then moved to France where he played in the Top 14 for Toulon and Racing 92, winning the French title with the former club.
Castrogiovanni’s club career was outstanding, yet his test career was arguably even better. He earned 119 test caps for Italy, a greater number than any player capped by Los Pumas. He played test rugby from 2002-2016, appearing in RWCs 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015.
Castrogiovanni played for two years with Domínguez and fifteen with Sergio Parisse. The N8 from La Plata moved to Italy aged 17. The son of Italian parents is Italy’s most capped player of all-time and only two players have more caps for any country.
Parisse may yet add to his 142 caps. He has made it known that he seeks to finish his test career on the field, and not retire off of it. He had the opportunity of doing so at RWC 2019 only for Italy vs New Zealand to be cancelled. A second opportunity was also a non-match as COVID-19 forced the suspension of the 2020 Six Nations.
A decade ago Parisse was considered the biggest ever loss to Argentina. This consideration has likely not changed and it is certain to remain for a long time, if not forever. With Argentina being a late mover to professional rugby there was an exodus of talent, something that has slowed down extensively.
Paris’s professional career started in Italy. He first played for Benetton Treviso as a teenager in 2002. In 2005 he made the move to France, playing for Stade Français from 2005-2019. He won multiple Top 14 titles with the club, including doing so as captain in 2015. He joined Toulon after RWC 2019.
Parisse, Castrogiovanni, and Domínguez are all commonly considered as being among the all-time greatest players for Italy. Their inclusion in the team is thereby not surprising.
ITALY All-TIME 6 NATIONS DREAM TEAM
1 Andrea Lo Cicero, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 3 Martín Castrogiovanni, 4 Carlo Checchinato, 5 Marco Bortolami, 6 Mauro Bergamasco, 7 Simone Favaro, 8 Sergio Parisse, 9 Alessandro Troncon, 10 Diego Domínguez, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 14 Matteo Minozzi, 15 Andrea Masi
