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Alyssa D'Inca: 'It's better to be last of the best than first of the second'
It seems almost paradoxical to be talking to Alyssa D’Inca about resetting focus in a week in which she was nominated for both try and player of the round in the Guinness Women’s Six Nations 2024.
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But that is where D’Inca and Italy find themselves. The hard-running winger’s second-half salvo in Paris last Sunday was scintillating yet it was also futile, France having built a 33-3 lead by the time she crossed for the first of her two tries.
Defeat leaves Italy fourth in the standings with one win from three matches and with work to do, starting against Scotland in Parma on Saturday, if they are to haul themselves into the top three and book their place in both WXV 1 2024 and Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025.
“We’ve worked on taking what happened in France out of our heads and resetting ourselves,” D’Inca tells RugbyPass.
“It will be a very important match [against Scotland], it will be a very tough match. So, we’ve got to focus on some aspects, and we are very confident that it will be a great match and we’ve had to work a lot in these past days.”
There is, of course, a more optimistic – perhaps realistic – way to look at Italy’s current predicament. The Azzurre’s two defeats came at the hands of Championship pace-setters England and France, while they returned from Ireland in round two with a crucial victory.
Italy know that wins against Scotland and Wales on consecutive Saturdays will be enough for at least a top-three finish and tickets to Canada and England.
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Asked, therefore, if the matches against the Irish, Scottish and Welsh were the focus pre-tournament, D’Inca replies “yes, absolutely” and she is confident the Azzurre can bounce back from defeat in Parma this weekend as they did in Dublin last month.
“Our group is very aware of their capacities and I’m pretty sure that if we wasted a day thinking about the past, it would be more difficult to focus on the next step,” she added.
“So, we’re going to think about the next game. We need to be very, very focused on the next step.”
Recent history would suggest that stride will be a forward one. Last year’s 29-21 defeat in Edinburgh was their first in the fixture since 2017 and Scotland have beaten the Azzurre only once in Italy, a quarter of a century ago.
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Italy did miss out on the inaugural WXV 2 title, by the slenderest of points difference margins, to Scotland last October but the two teams did not play each other in Cape Town and D’Inca insists the Azzurre are not concerned with revenge, instead describing the contest as an “in-or-out match”.
“I think that we are almost at the same level, so they are our principal competitor and this [match] is so important,” she says.
“Also, our level of mindset in preparation for the game because we know that this game means a lot, not only in the Six Nations tournament but also for the World Cup and WXV.”
An eighth successive home victory against Scotland would put Italy in the box seat to claim WXV 1 and Women’s RWC 2025 qualification with a trip to Cardiff to come a week on Saturday.
Despite watching Wales suffer defeats to Australia, Canada and New Zealand in the inaugural WXV 1 tournament, and struggle for form since, D’Inca has no doubts about where she wants to play this October.
“It is more important to play against the greatest teams of the world,” she says. “It is, of course, tougher but it is a question of ambition.
“We want to play at the highest level, and I think that it’s better to be last of the best than first of the second.
“So, we work every day, we train every day, and we play thinking about the highest level and where we want to arrive.”
D’Inca hopes that journey will also include a stop in England for a second Women’s Rugby World Cup next year and although the extra places on offer through WXV offer a safety net, she is determined to help the Azzurre secure their place as soon as possible.
“If we manage to finish third [in the Women’s Six Nations], the next months will be more calm, quieter, and we won’t have the obsession to think about the next game, the next game, the next competition,” D’Inca explains. “It’s crucial.”
What her devastating two-try performance at Stade Jean Bouin last Sunday did prove, moreover, is that D’Inca possesses a talent that deserves to be on the biggest stage.
Her first try was the result of hours spent on the training pitch as she came off her wing and took a pass from Beatrice Rigoni to crash over the line from five metres.
“It was the coronation of teamwork,” D’Inca says. “All the backs were in the right place at the right time, and I think if the ball went behind me, the try would be scored in the same way.”
By her own admission, the second was a more individual effort as she received the ball inside her own half, pinned her ears back and beat the covering defender.
Her only thought when the ball came her way: “Run Forest, run!”
“I think the second one is the one that puts my points in lights because it is a 60-metre run and I love to run, and speed is maybe my best skill.”
Whatever happens in Parma and Cardiff over the next eight days, don’t expect that to be the last time D’Inca is Italy’s headline act.
Comments on RugbyPass
It was the strangest result ever. Etzebeth should've been yellow card for his cynical retiring move and a penalty try. Birth second half tries by the Allblacks were fantastic and the TMO operating outside the law to rule out the first try was egregious. Yes, the boks got the win but it was through some bizarre officiating that allowed them to sneak home against 14 men that dominated them. The quieter Bok supporters know and acknowledge the Allblacks were the better and dominant side. Justifying the win because they beat a pre world cup Allblacks selection is silly.
204 Go to commentsA very English thing to do hey Courtney, blerrie kant
3 Go to commentsIt sounds like Andrew is trying to convince himself or has just lost all perspective. The team did look jaded for the last couple of games of the six nations but a few things were wrong there. Italy tackled their hearts out and made Ireland work hard for every try. Outsmarted by Scotland? Huh? Ireland got held up over the line about 4 times. Scotland did nothing on attack the whole game other than one breakaway near the end. A recharge and reset is needed which they hopefully will have had before the SA your.
7 Go to commentsIncluding SA and Argie teams was great for the quality of rugby, but middle of the night games and player travel/ jet lag make that unworkable. I think that SA in Europe and Argie building an American league with USA, Canada etc would be better long term. If Oz can't sustain Rebels then next cab off the rank should be a Japanese team. Keep regional comps to time zones, both club and test rugby. Then existing test windows for test tours plus RWC.
6 Go to commentsMisogynists have feelings too!
1 Go to commentsCrowd sizes of the URC v the Premiership must be a big factor.
1 Go to commentsWell you’ve made a proper tit of yourself, haven’t you! 😂
173 Go to commentsBen it's beyond their comprehension-
204 Go to commentsThanks Sam. Interesting read. Harder or easier for Parling to come into a completely new setup where performance was abysmal last time out? I’d suggest easier to be better but, as you suggest, will be a lot to do with how much latitude he’s granted. Hopefully all he needs. With hybrids like Holloway, Hannigan, Swinton and Leota as options at 6 we have the basics for a strong lineout. BPA returning means we have good options at 2 also with Faessler, Porecki and Uelese, although Jordan is a scrumming beast rather than a dart thrower. I’m typically a pessimist or realist but that’s never applied to the Wallabies
1 Go to commentsMad how this somehow contained absolutely zero information.
3 Go to commentsI’m looking forward to attending the Twickenham match, I don’t think it will have a bearing on the outcome of the grand prize itself but it will tell us more about each teams’ preparation and game plan. It’s hard to look past one of the big four (I’m including Canada) lifting the trophy in 2025 but sport is a curious thing, there will still be twists and turns in road ahead.
2 Go to commentsThe better side seems to be the losing side a lot these days. As far as narrative goes. Must be the big emergent culture of “participation awards” that have emerged in nanny states. ”It looked like New Zealand would take the game from there but lapses in execution let South Africa get back into the game. New Zealand’s goal kickers left five points out there, including a very make-able penalty on the stroke of half”. Sounds like a chronic problem… I wonder how the better team has lapses in concentration and execution? Or are those not important factors in the grand scheme of total performances? In 2023, the ABs at least didn’t give up a lead to lose. They just couldn’t execute to get the points and take the lead. This Baby AB result points to a choke - letting the game slip through your fingers. In the words of the great Ricky Bobby’s dad - “If you’re not 1st you’re last!” Loosely translated - if you didn’t win, you’re a loser.
10 Go to commentsWith Stuart Lancaster at the helm, Racing 92 looks more and more a mercenaries club like Toulon some years ago and they are not even performing despite all the money on offer.
4 Go to commentsCouple of things BS missed: wind was behind the Baby Blacks in the first half. Baby Boks got points from a scrum penalty in the final quarter against this ‘dominant pack’, and left three points on the park after a missed penalty.
10 Go to commentsSensible thoughts on this, Brett. Also worth considering we’ve sold 60k tickets for a game between the Rebels and the Lions next year. Got to be roughly $10m in ticket and game day revenue there.
6 Go to commentsUnsuccessful bitter ex Ulster player taking a pop shot at a side that isn't including his consistently poor mates up north
7 Go to commentsHis decision to play in France isn’t a petulant decision as this article suggests. I reckon that France is the perfect place to demonstrate that he can mix it in those battles Rassie references. It’s a good decision to try get into the squad. My personal opinion is that he wins more battles than he loses. I don’t have Rassie’s stats machine behind me, but Daymian’s is so strong moving through traffic and in the rip.
4 Go to commentsWow! Argie forward dominance is something I have not read in years….
1 Go to commentsIs the ‘snub’ really why he is leaving? He hasn’t said that has he? You don’t have to stay in SA to play for the Boks, so it’s not that he’s giving up on trying to get into the squad as the case would be in, say, England or New Zealand. Rassie made it clear that the early camps won’t feature all the players to play for the Boks this year so I can’t imagine Dayimani was too offended by being overlooked this time. It just seems like a sensationalist angle to take for a story without really knowing the player’s intentions.
4 Go to commentsWell, it is easily one of the best Irish sides, it’s just that their historical standard is very low.
7 Go to comments