ITALY ON THE RWC STAGE
On-field success may have largely alluded ever-present Italy at the game’s flagship event but their contribution to the tournament is undeniable. Indeed, the Azzurri had the honour of playing in the first-ever Rugby World Cup match at Eden Park on 22 May, 1987, losing 70-6 to New Zealand in a game that reflected the growing global appeal of rugby.
John Kirwan’s mesmerising run to the line is the moment of magic that many people remember from that curtain-raiser, but it is Italy’s Swiss-born centre Oscar Collodo who’ll forever have his name in the record books as the first points-scorer in RWC history.
An 18-15 victory over Fiji followed a defeat to Argentina but it was the Pacific side that went through to the knockout stages thanks to their superior try count – six tries to five – across the three pool fixtures.
Italy almost doubled their try tally from the first tournament with four in a 30-9 win against the USA – including a brilliant effort from Ivan Francescato – at Cross Green in Otley, the smallest venue to ever stage a RWC match, that set up a Twickenham showdown with England.
Sadly, Italy failed to deliver on the big stage and they lost 36-6 after being whistled off the park by referee Brian Anderson following a reported 37 infringements. All that was forgotten a few days later in the match against New Zealand as Italy put in a gutsy display to limit the All Blacks to a 10-point win.
Arguably the Azzurri’s best result in RWC history came in the 1995 tournament when they defeated Argentina 31-25 in East London after a fly-half masterclass from Diego Dominguez. It was just reward for the improvement they had shown in matching England try for try in a 27-20 defeat in their second game, having kicked off their campaign with a disappointing loss to Samoa.
Italy’s record of winning at least one match in a tournament came to an end in 1999 when an ageing team had no answer to the power of England (67-7), New Zealand (101-3) or Tonga, in a match that was settled by Sateki Tu’ipulotu’s long-range drop goal deep into injury-time.
One-time tormentor-in-chief turned national coach Kirwan took charge for Italy’s 2003 adventure in Australia. Four seasons of Six Nations rugby had improved the Azzurri’s standard of play, but a place in the quarter-finals once again proved elusive. Untimely injuries to key performers such as winger Mirco Bergamasco and second-row Marco Bortolami hit Italy hard going into their decisive match against Wales and they were beaten 27-15.
Despite being paired with New Zealand for the fifth time in six tournaments, Italy were confident of making a breakthrough and qualifying for the knockout stages of RWC 2007. With Romania and Portugal both accounted for, Italy faced Scotland in St Etienne to decide second place behind the All Blacks. Soon-to-be retired scrum-half Alessandro Troncon scored the only try, but he still ended up on the losing side after Chris Paterson kicked six penalties in an 18-16 win for the Scots.
After an opening loss to Australia at RWC 2011, the Italians – buoyed by significant ex-pat support in Nelson – managed wins over Russia (53-17) and USA (27-10). For the second tournament running Italy’s destiny would boil down to a deciding match against a Six Nations side, in this case Ireland. Italy were within a score of their opponents at the break, but Ireland rattled off 27 unanswered points to send Italy home.
England 2015 was a rather flat experience. A troublesome calf haematoma meant talisman and captain Sergio Parisse missed the opening 32-10 defeat to France at Twickenham and the 23-18 win over Canada in Leeds, in which the men in blue chalked up their 50th RWC try.
Parisse returned to lead Italy for the 66th time in a dour 16-9 loss to Ireland before the Azzurri’s campaign ended on a high note with a 32-22 win over Romania at Sandy Park seeing them pass the 500-point milestone in their 28th RWC match.
RECORD BREAKERS
Flanker Mauro Bergamasco came off the bench in Italy’s win over Canada to appear in his fifth Rugby World Cup in 2015, equalling Brian Lima's record.
HIGH POINT
Italy received a standing ovation by the 15,711 spectators crammed inside Welford Road after a determined performance against New Zealand in 1991, a match that ended in a 31-21 win for the All Blacks. Italy ‘won’ the second half 18-15 and became the first side to score a try in the tournament against the defending champions.
LOW POINT
New Zealand beat Italy 101-3 with what was effectively a second team. Jeff Wilson – one of only four regulars in the All Blacks line-up – scored a hat-trick, and in doing so broke John Kirwan's longstanding New Zealand try-scoring record.
QUOTE, UNQUOTE
“For a moment, I thought I must have been the most stupid captain in the history of Italy, but then I remembered that Fabio Ongaro had also been captain and I told myself that there had been at least one worse than me!” – Martin Castrogiovanni on assuming the captaincy from Sergio Parisse in the RWC 2011 match with Russia.
STATS-AMAZING
Forever on the back foot, Italy made more tackles per match on average than any other team (144) at RWC 2015.
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