'The Italian Job'

A look into the state of Italian rugby and whether the national team will ever fill their potential.

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Not one coaching position in world rugby has flattered to deceive quite as much as the head coaching role of the Italian national team. ‘Poisoned chalice’ would be an understatement. For a job which holds so much promise, Italy and their myriad of coaches just haven’t been able to kick-on since joining the Six Nations back in 2000.

Having failed to win a game since the “annual Wooden-Spoon championship” between Scotland and Italy ceased to be competitive after 2015, rugby’s most tedious debate has reared its ugly head. “Should relegation be introduced to the six nations?”, short answer: no. The equivalent to throwing your child in the bin because they’re not able to master the complexities of E=mc2, Italy joined the competition 117 years later than everyone else and needs the time to grow. It’s time to stop maligning this growing team and give them the space to flourish. The Italian job is a long and arduous road for anyone brave enough to wear the crown, but they deserve credit, and the current king, Franco Smith, deserves a long and healthy reign to get his kingdom into shape.

Let's first go back to March 2011. The clock turns red, France are frantically searching for field position to take them within drop goal range. Phase after phase go by and the inevitable looks likely to happen... penalty to Italy! The game ends and 28,000 passionate fans packed into the iconic and oh-so-missed Stadio Flaminio go wild. Nick Mallet, one of rugby’s perennial hard men, can’t stop crying and the rest of his team join him in a display of sheer delight. Final score: 22-21 to the Italians. Two years later in front of a much larger crowd at the Olimpico, same thing; Italy held out in the dying embers for a 23-18 victory. Possibly the two greatest results in the national team’s history. Days like this are a far cry from the consistent drubbings which have taken place over the last few years. However, looking beyond the scoreboard, there’s obvious reasoning.

Italian rugby has been going through a generational shift over the past five or so years. Household names including the likes of the Bergamsco brothers, Sergio Parisse, Martin Castrogiovanni and Andrea Masi have all retired, leaving the team which followed without the core of experience which led Italy to their best results. Alongside this, selection issues and a small talent pool, which will later be discussed, have dominated proceedings, with some players failing to live up to the high standards of those previously in possession of the shirt. To put this into perspective, the Italian backline which faced France in 2011 had well over one hundred caps between them; the backline in the same fixture of this year's tournament had a measly sixteen between them all.

Italy’s defence has come under serious criticism in recent years, but understanding the above explains why Italy don’t have a problem in defence, more so an experience issue. Anyone who has ever played competitive rugby of any decent standard will know that communication and mutual understanding are pivotal to a strong defence. With sixteen caps between a backline which was slandered after their defensive display in the opening round, that integral communication which was seemingly so poor, will come as time moves along and they are given a chance to grow.

One of the more detrimental floors which hinders the emergence of a competitive Italy, is the level of the game domestically. For a nation which developed an early form of the game in the shape of Calcio Fiorentino (very entertaining, look it up) the national appetite for rugby just isn’t the same as their Six Nations peers. Presently there are around 75,000 male and close to 8,000 female players registered to clubs in Italy. Compare that to the 1.9 million registered players, both male and female, in England and you can get an idea of the disparity between the nations at grassroots level. Pejoratively, much like in the home nations, the game is considered “posh”and is an almost exclusively a northern affair. This leads to potential talent being completely overlooked due to a lack of exposure. With these limitations holding back the national team, the development of the grassroots game is seen as a priority.

Since the arrival of the two Italian teams into the Pro- (whatever number the governing body decides to give the competition once they have decided whether South African teams will remain) the domestic teams have improved significantly. On the surface this has many benefits and none more so than the fact it allows the national team to centralise players and make sure that coaching is inclusive of the philosophies the Azzurri wish to adopt. However, this process will take time and to get to this level, the clubs will need to constantly be on an upward trajectory, which is hard to guarantee. Secondly, by centralising the players within the union, the experience of playing in England or France is now lost to many young Italian players who would benefit from the exposure to more mature unions and their strategies.

Every coin has two sides, and ultimately, improving the game domestically will be the right move; however, it is in this intermediary period where the national team will suffer. Saying that, the current U-20 team who are almost exclusively domestically based have pulled off some notable scalps, including a victory against Wales in Colwyn Bay; a sign that youth rugby in Italy is starting to achieve what it previously couldn’t.

Central to the performance of the well-oiled test team is an equally adept half-back partnership. To emulate the cliched analysis of mainstream rugby punditry, one fact they always seem to get right is that since the retirement of the genuinely world class Alessandro Troncon and Diego Dominguez, Italy have failed to find adept replacements. This isn’t to say talent hasn’t filled these spots over the last decade and a half, the Azzurri just haven’t managed to find anyone who quite lived up to the standards of the previous gladiators.

Currently occupying the nine and ten jerseys are Stephen Varney (19) and Paolo Garbisi (20) respectively. Varney is an excellent talent in his own right and someone Smith should look to keep blooding, but it is the baby-faced Garbisi that has Italian rugby enthusiasts excited. Picked to start in the previous years Autumn Nations Cup as a teenager, Smith gave him this chance after only five professional appearances. Previous bearer of the fly-half shirt, Tomasso Allan, was in a good vein of form before the tournament, but Smith quite rightly saw a different level of potential in Garbisi. A fly-half who plays in a very similar way to George Ford, flat on the gain-line, Garbisi represents a once in a generational talent, previously not afforded to the likes of Italy. Seeing his improvement after only seven appearances in the jersey gives a hope and optimism that this rapidly improving young man can steer the ship for years to come.

It isn’t just the emergence of the two young halfbacks which have given solace to fans of Italian rugby. Tactically, this team is starting to develop. For years, the Azzurri have lagged behind other elite nations in their tactical output, often replicating their opponents’ previous year’s tactical styles, one year too late. Welcome Franco Smith. The South African has brought with him a host of ideas which have seen other nations start to adopt his somewhat unorthodox methods. From his understanding of the loophole where half his kick chase can remain offside, to the idea of starting the game with so-called ‘second string’ props so the stronger pairing can finish the game. His ideals are seemingly “mad”, but carry a lot of innovative merit. These developments have got under the skin of some of the rugby faithful, but Smith’s willingness to experiment is the kind of bold new approach this team needs.

It is this renaissance of thought that gives so much optimism to the Italian game. Previous incumbent, Conor O’Shea, was an example of “right man at the wrong time”, where his ever ageing crop of stars were fading out one by one with no obvious replacement. Smith has the benefit of a whole new team buying into his plan and vision. Insert some of the more experienced heads in the form of ball carrying titan Jake Polledri and exciting backs Mattia Bellini and Matteo Minozzi, all of whom are returning from injury, and they have the making of a very exciting team.

Although the idea of relegation play-offs have been discussed by some former internationals who see it as a way to prove Italy’s prowess against Europe’s other emerging powers (stop now Mr Masi), Smith’s bold choice to blood an exciting new crop of talent, emboldening them with his new tactical vision, might just pay off; providing time is given for them to succeed. Against a hungry and hugely experienced Georgia, a one off loss may see this project crash and burn before it has even got off the ground, a prospect which truly can’t happen if World Rugby are to realise that the future of the game and its global development must revolve around the increasing competitiveness of the likes of Italy. The comment levelled against the Italian’s after the opening round loss by BBC pundit Sam Warburton, suggesting they’re “a joke”, hurts said development. The only “joke”, is the comment, which implies global rugby should maintain a status quo, whilst little effort is given to promoting the development of weaker unions.

To suggest that this assumed period of Italian stagnation is a new phenomena would be a presentist trap. Although match numero uno in the 2000 Six Nations was a famous victory against the Scots, Italy’s opening gambits in the competition and successive years were equally rocky, as they suffered from another generational shift. Head back to 2002 and under the tutelage of All Black great John Kirwan, the likes of debutants, Parisse and Castrogiovanni, were in the same position trying to adapt to another generational switch, having come off the back of a 64-10 defeat to New Zealand in Hamilton.

The retirement of Dominguez, a creative fly half so adept at the drop-goal he would strike fear into the heart of a certain Mr Wilkinson, certainly hurt the Azzurri’s momentum. Being unable to replace him meant that the winning ways of the team soon disappeared and they had to wait until the next generation were fully embedded until the wins against the likes of Scotland, Wales and Ireland started to come. The past is a good indicator of what is to come. This has happened before. A team like Italy, with an emerging talent pool and not a constant conveyor belt of stars clearly needs time, not pressure, to succeed.

Plenty of false dawns have emerged for the Italian’s, but this year, things feel different. It might seem strange to suggest a team which have shipped forty plus points in the opening rounds of this year's Six Nations are heading in an upward trajectory, but with the right blend of coaching (check) and belief in this young inexperienced team (check), Italian rugby could indeed be on the rise. Just do everyone a favour readers, let this team learn to play and don’t even think of mentioning relegation.

Just a thought.