Head Coach: Kieran Crowley

Captain: Michele Lamaro

Home Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Rome

For the first time in close to a decade, Italy enter the Guinness Six Nations with a true sense of confidence that they can challenge the big teams of European Rugby.

Buoyed by a strong Autumn Nations series, Kieran Crowley’s side has the feel of a side on the precipice of a breakthrough.

2022 Tale of The Tape 

2022 marked a new dawn for Italian Rugby as monumental victories over Wales and Australia saw the Azzurri return as a force in the international game. 

Spearheading the Italian renaissance is a group of budding stars unbridled by past failures. 

Despite finishing in what had become their customary sixth position in last season’s Guinness Six Nations. Their win in Cardiff on the final day of the Championship brought an end to a rotten run of 36 consecutive losses in the tournament. 

Fitting it proved to be that Italy’s brightest star Ange Capuozzo would be the one to land the killer blow as he scampered through the Welsh defence before setting up Eduardo Padovani for a try that sent shockwaves around the rugby world. 

ANGE CAPUOZZO!!!!!!!! ????#GuinnessSixNations #WALvITA
pic.twitter.com/Ow6sxxdnMQ

— Ultimate Rugby (@ultimaterugby) March 19, 2022

As the heroics of the Six Nations gave way to Autumn, Italian Rugby returned in force with two wins from three outings in the Autumn Nation Series. 

Highlighting their progress was their utter dominance of Samoa whom they had previously only beaten twice in their seven meetings. 

With the south sea islanders disposed of it would be two-time World Champions Australia up next. Having never beaten the Wallabies in 18 attempts, history was certainly against the Azzurri. 

A 28 – 27 victory would send Italian fans into a frenzy of expectation that this crop of young talent may finally bring the men in blue back to relevance after an exceptionally challenging and turbulent decade. 

Style Of Play 

Head coach Kieran Crowley is a no-nonsense old-school Kiwi and has proven to be just what Italian Rugby has needed as it ushers in its new generation of ball-playing stars. 

A formidable back-three player who earned 19 test caps for the All Blacks between 1983-91, Crowley has the Azzurri playing a sublimely well-balanced game. 

Utilising the traditional Italian strength of a powerful forward pack who prefers to take a no-frills direct approach. Whilst also incorporating what is fast becoming a lethal attacking backline, Crowley and his assistants appear to have struck a balance between the old and new of Italian rugby.   

Whilst the Italian backline lacks the physical punch of their Six Nations rivals most notably France and Ireland. Crowley’s side has struck a great balance between a wide attacking game and a clever kicking approach. This, therefore, negates the need for a head-on collision game and thus helps them avoid physical arm wrestles. 

Biggest Strength 

As the Italian attacking game continues to develop, one area that the Italians can go toe-to-toe with just about any side in the competition is in the back-row.

Leading from the front, 24-year-old captain Michele Lamaro finds plenty of familiar faces everywhere he looks with five of Italy’s six back-row forwards plying their trade with him at Benetton. Since making his debut in 2020, Lamaro has cemented himself as the first name on the team sheet and carries with him an aura similar to that of legendary captain Sergio Parisse. 

The one lone wolf in Gloucester’s Jake Polledri is arguably one of the most talented loose forwards in the European game. 

English-born Polledri’s choice to play for the country of his heritage rather than his birth was a major coup for Italian Rugby. His return to the national team following a long injury lay-off will be a major boost for them in what is set to be a long season with a World Cup at the end. 

Completing the trio is likely to be 22-year-old Lorenzo Cannone who marked his international debut against Samoa with a try. Since then, the Benetton man has been one of the top players in the United Rugby Championship and looks set to be the Italian’s first-choice number eight throughout the Championship. 

Potential Weakness 

Flyhalf looks to be a major concern for the Azzurri heading into this season’s Championship. 

Both Harlequins Tomasso Allan and Montpellier’s Paolo Garbisi are working their way back from injury and have been named in Crowley’s squad for the opening two clashes with France and England. 

Leonardo Marin remains on the injured list thus presenting a worry in terms of depth for the Azzurri in the crucial playmaking berth. 

Just how fit Garbisi is remains to be seen but speaking from their training camp in Verona, Crowley however was confident that his squad is on the right path. 

"We have had a good week of work in Verona, putting the foundations in place for the Six Nations," 

"We are taking it step-by-step. Our focus now is on the present and that is France. We have faith in our abilities and are on our path with the aim of continuing to build something important." 

Most Valuable Player 

Toulouse star Ange Capuozzo has gone from prodigy to bonified test star in the space of twelve months. 

Rarely is a player with just seven test caps an un-droppable cog in any test team but such is the rise of the fullback that he is hands down Italy’s best backline player. 

A rather diminutive figure by today’s professional rugby standards at 5’10” and 157lbs, Capuozzo uses his slight frame to his advantage. 

In a similar way to the All Blacks Damian McKenzie and South Africa’s Cheslin Kolbe, Capuozzo appears to glide through contact as he targets opposition players’ soft shoulders. His five test tries in seven appearances highlight just how lethal he is with the ball in hand and further illustrate his importance to the Azzurri attack. 

Winning the prestigious Breakthrough Player Of The Year award at last season’s World Rugby Awards, Capuozzo looks set to be more of a marked man this season. 

Despite the heightened attention, he looks set to continue to set the world alight and is a great bet for the player of the tournament award. 

Le saut de l'@CapuozzoAnge pour le @StadeToulousain ?

Pour gagner son maillot dédicacé ?
Rendez-vous ce lundi à 18H sur la chaîne @TwitchFR de @CanalplusSport ?#STMHR pic.twitter.com/7YjenzqIt7

— CANAL+ Rugby (@CanalplusRugby) January 29, 2023

Championship Prediction 

Gone are the days of an easy weekend break to Rome as this Italian squad means business. Whilst they are certainly on the less experienced side, there can no doubting their ability to pick up notable victories this season. 

Hosting France, Ireland and Wales with road trips to England and Scotland present an interesting schedule for Crowley’s side. 

At face value, their clash with Wales looks to be their best chance of a home victory given that Ireland and France are ranked 1^st and 2^nd in the world respectively. In addition to this, Wales has endured a tumultuous run of late. In fact their dip in form was so drastic that head coach Wayne Pivac was relieved of his duties making way for Warren Gatland’s return. 

On the road, both England and Scotland have their challenges coming into the tournament. For England, a change at head coach with Steve Borthwick replacing Eddie Jones could either be an unsettling change or just what was needed to reinvigorate a squad that had become somewhat stale.

Scotland traditionally has struggled with the Azzurri more than the other nations in the tournament and comes into the clash on the back of an up-and-down Autumn Nations Series. 

For the renaissance to continue Italy needs to pick up at least one win. They will do this and more as they pick up a win over Wales at home and will push Scotland to the brink to finish in 5^th position and hand back the dreaded Wooden Spoon.

Squad: 

Forwards: Pietro Ceccarelli, Simone Ferrari, Danilo Fischetti, Marco Riccioni, Luca Rizzoli, Federico Zani, Luca Bigi, Marco Manfredi, Giacomo Nicotera, Niccolò Cannone, Riccardo Favretto, Edoardo Iachizzi, Federico Ruzza, Lorenzo Cannone, Michele Lamaro, Sebastian Negri, Giovanni Pettinelli, Jake Polledri, Manuel Zuliani 

Backs: Alessandro Fusco, Alessandro Garbisi, Stephen Varney, Tommaso Allan, Giacomo Da Re, Paolo Garbisi, Juan Ignacio Brex , Enrico Lucchin, Tommaso Menoncello, Luca Morisi, Pierre Bruno, Ange Capuozzo, Matteo Minozzi, Edoardo Padovani.

Written by Philip Bendon