Alyssa D’Inca: 'We’re not the young ones anymore, but we’re not veterans'

At 24, it would be wrong to call Italy’s Alyssa D’Inca a veteran, but such is the amount that she has packed into her career it is easy to forget that she still has not clocked up a quarter of a century.

Having exploded into international rugby with a debut on the wing against England in 2021 when she was just 19, D’Inca is now getting to grips with life at outside centre. All while settling into new surrounds with a new club, in a new city and in a new country.

D’Inca has had a taste of playing in the 13 shirt. Three of her 10 appearances in the past two years of Guinness Women’s Six Nations action have come there. But for the most part she has been on the wing, including in her two appearances at the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup.

However, after a chat with head coach Fabio Roselli they decided to see how she could handle a different role at the 2026 Championship.

“He asked me in the January training camp what I thought about playing there, and I said it had been a few years since I played centre in the Championship,” D’Inca told RugbyPass.

“I played there for Villorba and I have played there for Blagnac, my team in France. I said I would be happy to try it out and keep my development in the role going.

“There is more responsibility both in defence and attack. You are one of the key figures who the others play around other than the playmakers. I have played a lot and developed as an outside centre since I started playing in the French championship. I like playing there.”

Sara Mannini is one of the players who has kept D’Inca on the wing, along with Beatrice Rigoni and Michela Sillari, who is six caps away from her century. D’Inca linked up with Mannini in the centres for the 40-7 defeat to France in Round 1, with Francesca Granzotto and Aura Muzzo on the wings.

Against Ireland in Round 2, D’Inca again started in the centres, but moved out wide when Sillari came off the bench to replace Gaia Buso. She showed her try-scoring ability by grabbing Italy’s fourth late on to ensure they left Galway with a try-scoring bonus point at the conclusion of their 57-20 loss.

Her development in the centres has been accelerated since her move to Blagnac in France’s AXA Elite 1 Feminine. French rugby was well aware of D’Inca’s prowess after one of her two tries in the 2024 Women’s Six Nations encounter that earned her the Try of the Championship award, before she and fly-half Veronia Madia crossed the Alps to join the Toulouse-based team after the Women’s Rugby World Cup.

“This chance has helped me develop and try different things as a rugby player,” D’Inca said. “It [Blagnac] has family at its heart and made us welcome straight away.

“So far it has been a great experience and wonderful to line up alongside someone like [France international] Gabrielle Vernier. It is a real step up for my career and I’m really pleased with how it is going.”

D’Inca and Madia faced Vernier in their Round 1 fixture. At 28, the France inside centre was one of the senior players in a squad that contains only one player in their 30s before an injury against Wales last weekend ruled her out of the remainder of the tournament.

Roselli, like his French counterpart François Ratier, has put the focus on youth so that they can build up their experience in time for the 2029 Women’s Rugby World Cup in Australia. The former Italy wing included nine uncapped players in his initial squad and didn’t hang around to give some of his younger players their chance against France, notably two 20-year-olds; scrum-half Alia Bitonci ahead of Stefan, and Mannini ahead of Sillari.

He is keeping a close eye on the Under-21 and Under-18 Six Nations with those that make an impression likely to receive an invitation to train with the national team. Nonetheless, the Azzurre squad still includes captain Elisa Giordano, 35, scrum-half Sofia Stefan, second-row Giordana Duca, and Sillari, all 33, who all bring their vast experience to the squad.

“We are very united, but you can break the squad down into three groups,” D’Inca said. “There’s the new girls who are a few years younger than me. There are those who are similar age to me, born in 2001 and 2002.

“We’re not the young ones anymore, but we’re not veterans. Then you have the older, experienced ones who are trying to give us a good path to follow.

“They bring their qualities and they have had the chance to develop in the Under-21s where they have already had a taste of the rugby world. They bring with them their work ethic and know that if they continue to work hard then opportunities will open up for them.”