Italian rugby
2014-2015 “The year of destiny”
Sport can
mirror a country, and with Italy in the grip of economic and political turmoil
a malaise has also overcome its two major international team sports. As the
Gazetta dello Sport digests the disaster of Brazil another world cup debacle
looms over the horizon, for Italy’s beleaguered rugby team. A run of 10
defeats, including demoralising losses to, Japan and Fiji makes for a stark
assessment of where the Azurri now rank in world rugby.
A member of
the 6 Nations since 2000 Italy has still to really establish itself, other than
being a great trip for fans. Victories have been sparse but, there is now a
palpable sense of decline. Part of the problem lies with the structure of the
domestic game. The two top teams; Benetton Treviso and Zebre play in the
Guinness Pro-12, but, neither threatens the top of the league. Below them is
the grandly named, “Campionato nazionale di eccellenza” (championship of
excellence) composed of semi-professional teams that used to make up the
backbone of the Italian national side. These teams still attract high levels of
sponsorship but see themselves as independent entities and have no designated
role in the development of players to feed the two professional sides or the
national team.
For any organisation to succeed it’s the quality of its
people that counts the most and the structure of Italian rugby is abjectly
failing to provide the high quality players the country needs, Italy lacks the
player depth needed to maintain its current vaunted position. The F.I.R.
Federazione Italiana Rugby, like all unions has its detractors, but it’s
responsible for safeguarding the development of the game of rugby in Italy.
Simply put it appears as if the F.I.R. is unable to fulfil that singular obligation.
F.I.R. president, Alfredo Gavazzi, and his vision for the future of the Italian
game, ” progetta
statura” – that only big guys can play rugby. The academy in
Tirrenia is a place where the boys don’t become men but only machines, a place
where they train all the muscles except one: the brain, by focusing on building
a physique – it ignores the other skills, it fails to build a culture of
attacking rugby, managing a game and the development of a style unique to
Italy. Gavazzi knows that he also is running out of time. Italy has no
international rugby coaches or world-class executives, some of the country’s
oldest clubs have been marginalized, the standard of refereeing is bleak and
the testing Autumn internationals could break his hold on power. There is
a pressing need for the F.I.R. and the national team to take a different
direction.
After the travails of the summer Jacques Bruni must
realise that he too is running out of time. Bruni has never been one to look
for the easy option, hard work and discipline have been the core values he has
instilled into his team, but they are struggling for credibility. Italy are
unravelling and the portents are not good. Their talisman the wonderful Sergio
Parisse is struggling, even his legendary durability beginning to fade. Too
many players ply their trade away from Italy, who can the local young players
look up to? Tomaseo Allan, the “new Dominquez” will be playing in the French D2,
why not for Zebre? Bruni still has at home, the precocious Michelle Campagno
and the lion hearted Qunitin Geldhuys but otherwise, to watch the rest of his
players Bruni will need a Sky TV subscripition.
The baggage of such a depressing run of defeats will be
weighing heavily on the team and Bruni has very little talent to bring in to
try and freshen up an increasingly jaded squad. Even the “Emerging Italy” team
were heavily beaten by Georgia in the summer. Treviso and Zebre will struggle
this season, the Guiness Pro-12 will be a much tougher proposition with the
changes to european qualification. Both have trawled the Southern hemisphere
for largely fringe Super rugby players to augment their sqauds but, they will
simply not be able to compete against the resources of the Irish or even the
Welsh regions.
In the Autumn Italy faces Samoa, Argentina and South
Africa and Bruni and perhaps Gavazzi will need at least one victory to hold on.
Probably the Samoan game will be the one that they target, but it will not be
easy. Italy will have to play very well to secure a much needed victory.
Italy’s much heralded and universally welcomed entry
into the 6 Nations was to show the rugby world that emerging rugby nations
could eat at the “Top table” of international rugby and give hope to others
like Georgia, Romania and Russia. Yet, with Italy’s apparent collapse of
standing perhaps it’s time to consider promotion and relegation from the 6
Nations. After all there has to be accountability for poor results and the
potential ignominy of relegation might be the incentive Italy needs to put its
house in order before it’s too late.
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