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Italy will be dressed differently this weekend as they take on France
By Neil Fissler
Italy will wear a special ‘Rosso Garibaldi’ shirt when they try to wrestle back the Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy for only the third time in the 20 years of its existence.
It would be a massive shock if they can derail Les Bleus’ march to the Grand Slam at the Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille on Sunday afternoon and emulate their wins in Rome’s Stadio Olimpico in 2011 and 2013.
Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian general and revolutionary born in Nice in 1807, and the red shirts were the colour Garibaldi and his soldiers always wore in battle in South America and in many conflicts across Italy.
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The Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy, the largest and most distinctive of the Six Nations trophies, was designed by legendary French flanker Jean-Pierre Rives and represents the historic ties between France and Italy.
It was unveiled in 2007 during the bicentenary of Garibaldi’s birth and named in his honour, and a third kit has now been created for Italy especially for this game in northern France.
Former Sunday Express chief sports writer Jim Holden, who is now based in Italy, has just written a book, Via Garibaldi, which charts the extraordinary life of Italy’s Greatest Ever Hero, and wrote on LinkedIn:
“Many football lovers will know that Nottingham Forest play in Garibaldi red shirts, as proclaimed at every home match with a huge banner: ‘The Garibaldi that we wear with pride was made in 1865.’
“Another Garibaldi red jersey will also make its debut on Sunday in the Six Nations Championship, this one made just a few months ago in 2025.
“Inside the collar, there is an inscription of Garibaldi’s most evocative war-cry: ‘Qui si fa Italia o si muore’ – Here we make Italy, or we die.
“It was a stirring call to action during the Battle of Calatafimi on the dusty hills of Sicily in 1860, a crucial victory in his crusade to unify Italy and create the modern nation we know today,” he said.
Via Garibaldi: On the Trail of Italy’s Hero by Jim Holden is available from bookshops or online.
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