I figured instead of doing a match thread for the Tonga match I'd do a general thread for Italrugby, still won't get many replies but then at least I have a place to rant about whatever stupid thing Gavazzi has done.

Anyway here are the teams for Saturday:

Italy:

15 Edoardo PADOVANI (Zebre Rugby, 5 caps)*
14 Giulio BISEGNI (Zebre Rugby, 4 caps)
13 Tommaso BENVENUTI (Benetton Treviso, 36 caps)*
12 Luke MCLEAN (Benetton Treviso, 83 caps)
11 Giovanbattista VENDITTI (Zebre Rugby, 37 caps)*
10 Carlo CANNA (Zebre Rugby, 14 caps)
9 Giorgio BRONZINI (Benetton Treviso, 2 caps)
8 Sergio PARISSE (Stade Francais, 121 caps) – capitano
7 Simone FAVARO (Glasgow Warriors, 32 caps)*
6 Francesco MINTO (Benetton Treviso, 30 caps)
5 Marco FUSER (Benetton Treviso, 15 caps)*
4 Quintin GELDENHUYS (Zebre Rugby, 66 caps)
3 Lorenzo CITTADINI (Bayonne, 52 caps)
2 Ornel GEGA (Benetton Treviso, 7 caps)
1 Sami PANICO (Patarò Calvisano, 5 caps)*

Bench TBC

Tonga:

15 David HALAIFONUA (Gloucester Rugby, 20 caps)
14 Nafi TU’ITAVAKE (Northampton Saints, 3 caps)
13 Siale PIUTAU (Yahama Jubilo, 26 caps) – capitano
12 Latiume FOSITA (Auckland, 20 caps)
11 Fetu’u VAINIKOLO (Oyonnax, 27 caps)
10 Kali HALA (Steelers, 4 caps)
9 Sonatane TAKULUA (Newcastle Falcons, 18 caps)
8 Tevita KOLOAMATANGI (Waikato Chiefs, 2 caps)
7 Jack RAM (Auckland Blues, 10 caps)
6 Dan FALEAFA (Albi, 9 caps)
5 Jon TU’INEAU (Dax, 27 caps)
4 Steve MAFI (Castres, 19 caps)
3 Siua HALANUKONUKA (Otago Highlanders, 3 caps)
2 Paula NGAUAMO (Mont de Marsan, 9 caps)
1 Tevita MAILAU (Perpignan, 20 caps)
A disposizione
16 Elvis TAIONE (Exeter Chiefs, 26 caps)
17 Paea FA’ANUNU (Dax, 4 caps)
18 Sila PUAFISI (Glasgow Warriors, 25 caps)
19 Valentino MAPAPALANGI (Manawatu Turbos, 1 cap)
20 Kotoni ALE (Manly Marlins, 2 caps)
21 Tomasi PALU (Wellington Lions, 12 caps)
22 Tevita TAUFUI (Waikato, 11 caps)
23 Cooper VUNA (Worcester Warriors, 3 caps)

So CoS has decided to stick with a winning team, the only change being Geldenhuys coming in for the injured Van Schalkwyk. Surprised that Biagi did not take that place as he's been on the bench for the last two games. Other than that no real surprises, he doesn't really want to be making changes now, after a historic win we need to follow that up with another win and Tonga aren't to be taken lightly.

CO'S my Italian friend......CO'S.

Ireland - yet again spreading the Rugby gospel.

Good luck with the thread sturginho

Bravo Sturgigno; ci stavo pensando anche io di aprire un tread ufficiale per l'Italia...per fortuna che ci sei te che ti dai da fare sul serio!!

Sturginho, how was the was the win over the Saffers covered in Italy? Did it get much coverage outside the obviously limited rugby press?

It actually got good coverage in the mainstream media
but I think the real added value is in the social media area
lots of Italian rugby groups; networks; journalists are having now some spotlight and extending their audience

Now a convincing win on Saturday will be perfect to keep the trend going

Yeah, its important to back it up. Great though that its an opportunity to get the game out to wider audience in such a hugely positive way.

Sorry boss

What's happened to Josh Furno? Injured or just out of contention for selection? Pretty decent player.

Injured, he was included in the squad but hasn't recovered in time. Will be good to get him back playing for Zebre soon

OOOOH! Dopo la vittoria coi Bokke un thread nostro ce lo meritiamo.

Ora sotto con Tonga, con Bisegni che si trova Vainikolo davanti, dopo Habana e Naholo.
Un tranquillo Novembre di distruzione.

DAJE!!!!!

Si' ma ci manca il battesimo e benedizione del nostro boss.... Tanu!! 😬😬

I'm in! I read that Parisse was banned for three weeks!

Eh?
Che cavolo stai dicendo, Willis??

https://sports.yahoo.com/news/parisse-banned-misses-tonga-test-183727761--spt.html


Hope posting links to other sports websites is acceptable downhere

Massive congrats to Italy on the huge win Saturday.

I was *ahem* busy attending to other matters, so never go around to saying well done folks. Delighted for Parisse in particular.

A posto semo

Edit: ok we are, now!

Merde! Merde! Merde!

Why do the French always ban Parisse when he's supposed to be playing for us?

Chi metterà?
Mbandà tornato disponibile?
Van consonanti, pure lui migliorato?
Barbini?

Non so se Mbanda e' di nuovo disponibile, Van consonant sicuramente no. Forse mettera Barbini, o Barbieri?

It's alright you've got big Simone McFavaro in your team, he'll smash anyone and leave stars in their eyes

Shame Sarto is injured. He was playing on fine form for Glasgow before he got injured.

I don't know who will replace Parisse...however it will be the proper time for testing our team without his contribute as leader.

If Mbanda is fit enough then he'd be my ideal replacement, who does he pick as captain though? In the summer he made Gori captain, but he's on the bench for this game

I'm glad that Sarto (and Favaro) is doing well at Glasgow, so many of our players recently have gone abroad only to barely get a handful of minutes on the pitch

Favaro is definitely a fan favourite and is easily first choice if fit. Sarto has also been well received and showed what he can do against Leicester. Give him a few more months, once his shoulder has recovered and he'll probably be a regular first team player.

He was incredible against South Africa. Himself Minto and Parisse got through a tonne of work. As well as that, Bronzini was one that I hadn't really heard of but he was excellent and now Italy have real depth at scrum half and not just Tito Tebaldi! Put Campagnaro, Sarto, Ghiraldhini, Furno back into that squad and you're doing well

I'd like to offer my support to this thread and outright sympathy towards Italian Rugby. Forza Italia.
There's much to say about 'what could've been' during that golden age during the 2009-13 stretch. Things don't always go accordingly to the orthodox logic. You'd imagine in this case Italy would only continue on the way up and yet they'd gone way, way down, shipping 50 to everyone in the 6N again and going through a major crisis, even being labelled Tier 2, and rightfully at that really. But now, they seem to have something strong to build on. At Rugby more than probably any sport, having no less than 15 individuals on either side at once, a coaching staff - the collective execution and structure of a team - is essential and of a tremendous impact on the Rugby displayed on the pitch. CO'S has brought that culture, and so be it, if borrowing foreign international know-how constitutes a strong solution with tangible results, then go for it by all means. All good. France probably should've done the same with Vern Cotter when still available, but they fkd up.
Italy have enough to build around on paper although a couple or three additional int'l talents would certainly give them that much more relevance on the world chessboard. But they have weapons with a solid pack, Parisse, a few good backs, and a halfback pairing looking for their marks that could amount to something pertinent.

They'll beat Tonga, but those two straight wins still won't mean all that much. They'll need to prove their worth at the next 6N. With three games at home, two away, this is a good chance to show their mettle.
Whether they actually win games or not isn't the point. It's the content of those matches, the execution and whether they can get consistency from one game to the next. I think they have enough to build on, improve overtime, and be an interesting int'l side; certainly more threatening than over the two previous seasons.

I quite liked what I saw of Venditi. Proper hard plum.

Italia XV:

15 Edoardo PADOVANI (Zebre Rugby, 5 caps)*
14 Giulio BISEGNI (Zebre Rugby, 4 caps)
13 Tommaso BENVENUTI (Benetton Treviso, 36 caps)*
12 Luke MCLEAN (Benetton Treviso, 83 caps)
11 Giovanbattista VENDITTI (Zebre Rugby, 37 caps)*
10 Carlo CANNA (Zebre Rugby, 14 caps)
9 Giorgio BRONZINI (Benetton Treviso, 2 caps)
8 Andries Van SCHALKWYK (Zebre, 5 caps)
7 Simone FAVARO (Glasgow Warriors, 32 caps)*
6 Francesco MINTO (Benetton Treviso, 30 caps)
5 Marco FUSER (Benetton Treviso, 15 caps)*
4 Quintin GELDENHUYS (Zebre Rugby, 66 caps)
3 Lorenzo CITTADINI (Bayonne, 52 caps)
2 Ornel GEGA (Benetton Treviso, 7 caps)
1 Sami PANICO (Patarò Calvisano, 5 caps)*

16 Tommaso D'Apice, 17 Nicola Quaglio, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 George Biagi, 20 Abraham Steyn, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Tommaso Allan, 23 Michele Campagnaro

Favaro captain for the first time ever, Campagnaro back in the team.
Van Consonante instead of Parisse, I wished Mbandà could recover, nevermind, good luck to the Saffer.

Ok, so Van Schalkwyk was ruled out through injury and now he's back in for Parisse?

Favaro as captain though

He has always shown glimpses of being rather good, but hasn't really been consistent enough. On his worst days he seems to have hands made of butter, or concrete (or concrete coated in butter?) and his defense is poor. But on his day he puts in some crunching tackles and pops up with important tries. If working with Venter, albeit briefly, helps him improve his defending, and working with Catt helps him improve his handling, then he could be a big asset for Italy.

Should be grand as long as he remembers not to nut the referee.

Zebre team for the trip to Belfast tomorrow:

Zebre Rugby
15 Dion Berryman
14 Simone Balocchi*
13 Matteo Pratichetti
12 Tommaso Castello (cap)
11 Mattia Bellini
10 Alberto Chiesa*
9 Guglielmo Palazzani
8 Derick Minnie
7 Johan Meyer
6 Giovanni Pettinelli*
5 Federico Ruzza*
4 Gideon Koegelenberg
3 Dario Chistolini
2 Carlo Festuccia
1 Bruno Postiglioni

A disposizione
16 Luhandre Luus*
17 Andrea De Marchi
18 Guillermo Roan
19 Valerio Bernabò
20 Giovanni Licata*
21 Carlo Engelbrecht
22 Maicol Azzolini*
23 Lloyd Greeff
*è/è stato membro dell’Accademia FIR “Ivan Francescato”
Non disponibili per infortunio: Kurt Baker, Serafin Bordoli, Gabriele Di Giulio*, Joshua Furno*, Andrea Lovotti*, Andrea Manici*, Jacopo Sarto, Kayle Van Zyl

A lot of permit players in there, given that 11 players are on international duty plus 8 missing through injury

Catt, Venter plus CO'S are the clear example of how an experienced and capable managing team can raise the bar in no time!
Especially for a nation like Italy well behind in terms of education to rugby at every level grassroots to national team

Looks like I am going to miss this match too!

Here's something to get us in the mood: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Glg1qlA ... RZDZHPsudA

Munster vs Treviso line ups:

Munster: Andrew Conway; Darren Sweetnam, Sammy Arnold, Jaco Taute, Ronan O’Mahony; Tyler Bleyendaal, Duncan Williams; Dave Kilcoyne, Rhys Marshall, John Ryan; Dave Foley, Darren O’Shea; Jack O’Donoghue, Tommy O’Donnell (c), Robin Copeland

A disposizione: Niall Scannell, Thomas du Toit, Stephen Archer, Jean Kleyn, Billy Holland, Angus Lloyd, Ian Keatley, Alex Wootton

Benetton Treviso: Jayden Hayward, Michael Tagicakibau, Tommaso Iannone, Alberto Sgarbi (c), Luca Sperandio, Ian McKinley, Tito Tebaldi, Marco Barbini, Filippo Ferrarini, Marco Lazzaroni, Michael Van Vuren, Filippo Gerosa, Matteo Zanusso, Luca Bigi, Alberto De Marchi

A disposizione: Davide Giazzon, Federico Zani, Tiziano Pasquali, Roberto Santamaria, Federico Conforti, Enrico Francescato, Andrea Pratichetti, David Odiete

Indisponibili: Allan, Banks, Barbieri, Benvenuti, Bronzini, Budd, Buondonno, Esposito, Ferrari, Filippetto, Fuser, Gega, McLean, Minto, Montauriol, Morisi, Quaglio, Paulo, Steyn, Zanini, Zanni

Can you let us know how ref Adamson goes?

Thats the difference that good coaching makes.

Go for it Italy.