Italy's Six Nations plans dealt blow as Mirco Spagnolo cops ban

Italy and Benetton loosehead prop Mirco Spagnolo will miss the opening two rounds of the Guinness Six Nations after receiving a five-week ban for his recent red card against Zebre in the United Rugby Championship.

The 24-year-old was dismissed by referee Gianluca Gnecchi for a croc-roll in the second half of Benetton’s 12-24 victory over Zebre on December 28, as they secured the double over their Italian rivals.

Following a hearing this week, the prop was handed a ten-week ban, with the judicial officer overseeing the disciplinary process Mr. Neil Snellenburg determining the incident warranted a red card.

Due to Spagnolo’s “apology, good disciplinary record and his full engaged participation throughout the disciplinary process,” the ban was halved, meaning he will only miss five matches.

Fixture

Six Nations

Scotland

31 - 19

Full-time

Italy

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Those five matches are the Investec Champions Cup fixtures against Bristol Bears and La Rochelle for Benetton, as well as a URC clash with the 14th-place Ospreys in Swansea. He will also be absent for Italy’s trip to Edinburgh to face Scotland in the opening round of the Championship, and the visit from Wales a week later. He will be available again in round three as Italy welcome France to Rome.

This will be a damaging blow to Italy head coach Gonzalo Quesada, who handed the loosehead his debut in the opening round of last year’s Championship before selecting him for every Test in 2024, primarily on the bench.

The Azzurri will be looking to build on a strong 2024 Championship, where they registered wins over Scotland and Wales, and a draw with France despite still finishing fifth in the standings.

In the immediate future, Benetton will be shorn of their starting loosehead as they look to advance to the knockout stages of the Champions Cup, where they currently sit in fourth place of Pool 2.