Lucasrg says...

Another big issue is that this sport in Italy makes little into the press.

Gazzetta dello sport is Italy's leading sportspaper but guess what...the rugby section is utterly poor, lucks of updates, very useless. This is shocking and I wrote them many times that is shameful to put other "sports" like even poker ahead of Rugby. Embarrasing.

The next FIR president will have to bring more Rugby into schools and on the nation's stage...not just fulling money on the accademies. And then support all the Eccelenza team.

I hope anyway that something good will come out of this Zebra experiment

Posted 13:40 12th June 2012

Piotr says...

@curates_egg

I agree with all you say.

But often when we talk about Italian rugby we always start from the wrong perspective. The starting point for Italian rugby is that rugby in Italy is an irrelevant sport: there are fewer players than in other top 15 nations (there are 3 times more male senior rugby players in Japan than in Italy and more than 7 times in France, source IRB), there is generally no fan base (the average Italian Eccellenza match draws a handful bunch of supporters excluding friends, parents, wife /girfriends and cousins), the Italian first XV was until yesterday stuffed with foreigners (nothing to argue about, it is permitted by IRB).

It is an amateurs game managed by amateurs managers wishing to be a professional game run by prepared and experienced professional managers.

There is no money in Italian rugby and that is why you cannot follow it.

It is true that 6 nations games are always full house, but it is also true that 6 nations rugby is one of the great sporting events in Europe year in and year out(and Rome is a gorgeuos venue).

It is also true that in recent years many top Italian teams went into trouble as they lived well above their means (eg Aquila, Amatori Milano, Parma Rugby, Roma Olimpic) some of these are now sleeping with the fishes.

It could well be that the Aironi made the same mistakes and could not afford to meet the Pro12 standards. This is FIR's argument and it could well be true given that Aironi ranks were full of "Italian" players aged 30 or thereabout (ie expensive and with not many years ahead, eg Orquera, Perugini, Dal Fava).

What Brunel is now trying to do (playing with Italian born and bred players) is the right way to do things. Against Argentina there were only 3 players non Italian players in the strictest definition (namely Castro, Barbieri and Burton).

The results are outstanding given the above.

Posted 16:18 11th June 2012

J_HDK says...

curates_egg.. have you really never travelled to an away game?

Posted 12:13 09th June 2012

Piotr says...

@curates_egg:

Very nice points, but I would like to counterargue on some:

- Parma has a magnificent rugby centre, unfortunately some mad construction manager decided to shorten the main pitch by a couple of metres to build state of the art changing rooms. For this reason, the pitch does not meet Pro12 (or generally European) standards. Works have already started to amend this. No new stadium is envisaged. It has decent seats and covered stands in line with Pro12 standards.

- Parma has a long tradition in rugby (far longer than Viadana who was founded 40 odd years ago).

- Zebra was an invitation only Italian team (some sort of Italian Barbarians) which many years ago where well famous and won some spectacular matches.

- Parma is also the base of one of the 3 regional academies (the other being in Rome and Veneto), while the national academy (feeding the U20 national team) is in Tuscany. Some economies of scale there I presume.

- Parma is logistically very well placed and on the main A1 highway, Viadana is not.

- Yes Mr Dondi is from Parma, but so what.

- Yes Fir should be better managed, but so should Italy as a country.

BTW, I am 100% Italian

Posted 13:45 08th June 2012

pog_mahone says...

Zebras? Sounds like cannon fodder...

Posted 09:34 08th June 2012

dan73 says...

Another fun fact: Viadana is only 26 km from Parma. Why move from Zaffanella stadium and change the name, it makes no sense.

Posted 07:40 08th June 2012

Lucasrg says...

@curates_egg

Rofl mate, so well written th bit.I really don't know (as Italian) wheather to cry or laugh at the situation up there at the F.I.R. under Pope Dondi from Parma!

the Zebras?!?!? .....embarassing....we had the Marsican bears, wolves, bloody snakes, linx, rams, sharks, boars.....still, Pretorians Roma could have been much better

Posted 01:30 08th June 2012

leinster_goy says...

thanks for the info, curates_egg. this team might well be even worse than aironi, if that were possible

Posted 20:57 07th June 2012

blametheref says...

@Curates_egg

Very good post...think the Italians and the Irish have something in common that never amounts to common sense

Posted 18:39 07th June 2012

lostprofit says...

@curates_egg

Where is the like button for this post :D

Posted 17:41 07th June 2012