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Non capé, né en Afrique du Sud et capitaine de l’Italie pour le Six Nations
Cette première sélection de l’Italie était très attendue par Gonzalo Quesada, l’ancien international argentin, ayant représenté son pays à 38 reprises, qui occupait le poste de manager du Stade français jusqu’en juin dernier (2013 et 2017 et 2020-2023).
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Quesada accorde toute sa confiance au numéro 8 des Exeter Chiefs, Ross Vintcent, dans l’équipe d’Italie pour le Tournoi des Six Nations, au côté de quatre autres joueurs non capés.
Le troisième-ligne des Chiefs, âgé de 21 ans, est né à Johannesburg mais est passé par l’Académie de la Fédération italienne de rugby avant de rejoindre Exeter en 2022. Avant de rejoindre la Gallagher Premiership, il a joué pour Zebre.
Le dynamique troisième-ligne est l’un des cinq joueurs non capés du pack des Azzurri, au côté des piliers Matteo Nocera, Luca Rizzoli et Mirco Spagnolo, et de son compatriote Alessandro Izekor.
De Ceccarelli à Menoncello
Le groupe compte vingt joueurs chez les avants et quatorze chez les trois-quarts. Pietro Ceccarelli, né en 1992, est le joueur le plus expérimenté du groupe tandis que Tommaso Menoncello (né en août 2002, la même année que Rizzoli, A. Garbisi, Vintcent et Pani) est le plus jeune joueur à la disposition du staff.
La sélection présente un mélange de joueurs d’expérience – dont Tommaso Allan qui, avec ses 79 sélections, est l’Azzurri le plus actif – et de jeunes joueurs avec une moyenne d’âge dans l’équipe d’environ 25 ans.
On compte également sept joueurs du Top 14 : l’arrière du Stade Toulousain Ange Capuozzo (24 ans), le demi d’ouverture du MHR Paolo Garbisi (23 ans), l’ailier du LOU Monty Ioane (29 ans), le demi de mêlée de Lyon Martin Page-Relo (25 ans), le polyvalent arrière de l’USAP Tommaso Allan (30 ans), le pilier droit de Perpignan Pietro Ceccarelli (31 ans) et le centre de l’Aviron Bayonnais Federico Mori (23 ans).
Trois jours pour se préparer au complet
« Nous aurons l’occasion de travailler pour la première fois, même si ce n’est que pour trois jours, avec le groupe au complet », a déclaré Gonzalo Quesada, le sélectionneur de l’Italie.
« Au cours de la première partie du mois de janvier, nous nous sommes concentrés sur la nouvelle méthodologie de travail et sur les grandes lignes du projet. Maintenant, nous allons aborder les bases de notre jeu et les schémas d’attaque et de défense.
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« Nous n’aurons pas beaucoup de temps et nous essaierons de concentrer le travail le plus possible. Le staff a très bien travaillé et il y a eu des échanges réguliers pendant cette période pour communiquer toutes les informations aux joueurs de la meilleure façon possible. »
L’équipe nationale restera à Vérone jusqu’au samedi 27 janvier avant de se rendre à Rome, au Centre de préparation olympique Giulio Onesti, où les Azzurri s’entraîneront en vue de leur entrée dans le Tournoi des Six Nations le samedi 3 février contre l’Angleterre au Stadio Olimpico de Rome.
SELECTION DE L’ITALIE POUR LE TOURNOI DES SIX NATIONS 2024 (LES SELECTIONS SONT ENTRE PARENTHESES) :
Avants (20)
- Pietro CECCARELLI (Perpignan, 31 sélections)
- Danilo FISCHETTI (Zebre Parma, 36 sélections)
- Matteo NOCERA (Zebre Parma, non capé)
- Luca RIZZOLI (Zebre Parma, non capé)
- Mirco SPAGNOLO (Benetton Rugby, non capé)
- Giosuè ZILOCCHI (Benetton Rugby, 16 sélections)
- Gianmarco LUCCHESI (Benetton Rugby, 17 sélections)
- Marco MANFREDI (Zebre Parma, 3 sélections)
- Giacomo NICOTERA (Benetton Rugby, 18 sélections)
- Niccolò CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 36 sélections)
- Edoardo IACHIZZI (Benetton Rugby, 6 sélections)
- Federico RUZZA (Benetton Rugby, 49 sélections)
- Andrea ZAMBONIN (Zebre Parma, 3 sélections)
- Lorenzo CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 16 sélections)
- Riccardo FAVRETTO (Benetton Rugby, 1 sélection)
- Alessandro IZEKOR (Benetton Rugby, non titularisé)
- Michele LAMARO (Benetton Rugby, 33 sélections)
- Sebastian NEGRI (Benetton Rugby, 52 sélections)
- Ross VINTCENT (Exeter, non capé)
- Manuel ZULIANI (Benetton Rugby, 17 sélections)
Arrières (14)
- Alessandro GARBISI (Benetton Rugby, 7 sélections)
- Martin PAGE-RELO (Lyon, 4 sélections)
- Stephen VARNEY (Gloucester, 24 sélections)
- Tommaso ALLAN (Perpignan, 79 sélections)
- Paolo GARBISI (Montpellier, 31 sélections)
- Juan Ignacio BREX (Benetton Rugby, 30 sélections)
- Tommaso MENONCELLO (Benetton Rugby, 12 sélections)
- Federico MORI (Bayonne, 13 sélections)
- Marco ZANON (Benetton Rugby, 16 sélections)
- Pierre BRUNO (Zebre Parma, 15 sélections)
- Ange CAPUOZZO (Stade Toulousain, 16 sélections)
- Monty IOANE (Lyon 25 sélections)
- Simone GESI (Zebre Parma, 1 sélection)
- Lorenzo PANI (Zebre Parma, 5 sélections)
Comments on RugbyPass
Dalton for skipper?
11 Go to commentsOh he's ‘Irish qualified’ isn't that convenient. If Ireland get any more Kiwis (and Aussie) in their backline they might need to run out in green and black kit soon. How is the supposed best rugby system in the world in need of trawling for journeyman Kiwi players?
2 Go to commentsCallum Grace is playing well now that he's finally back in his best position. But given it was Razor who somehow thought Grace was dynamic enough to be a No8 when he's clearly not, Im not sure he’d backtrack on that. Finau is risky with his style, and there's almost no point picking Blackadder when he can’t stay on the field more than five minutes.
12 Go to commentsThe team on paper has more supposed ‘stars’ than a lot of the sides they’re losing to. They’ve got the Razor-blues and aren't playing for Penney. He should jump before he's pushed.
1 Go to commentsProof. That if you lay dramatic instrumental hip hop music over a video of a skinny pale white kid running an unopposed zig zag on a training ground - it’ll seem next-level epic!
12 Go to commentsIf they win the challenge Cup then it will have all been worth it. If they don’t, then maybe he should go. Lots of ppl seem to think very highly of him as a coach, but maybe he would be better working under someone. Any top sides looking for forwards coaches rn?
1 Go to commentsJason Ryan knows his craft as forwards coach and I'm sure he’ll hold sway with Scott Robertson of who he feels worthy of selection…his credentials validated when he put a 7xcaps between them front row...Ethan, Samisoni and Lomax on Ellis Park…Go the AB's…
12 Go to commentsFascinating. I’m optimistic about a team coached by Schmiddy, Cron and Parling
14 Go to commentsI think if Blackadder is fit, he has to be in the team. If he isn’t, Finau would be good, and I always thought Akira deserved more of a crack at it. I think he looked better than ppl gave him credit.
12 Go to commentsThanks again Nick and interesting comments from Parling about his lineout preferences. Bearing in mind what Schmidt has said about prioritising Oz based players initially we may not see Skeleton until the EOY trip to Ireland and the UK. To me that suggests that Cale has to be ready by then. In the meantime we get 3 jumpers by having 2 jumping locks and a Wright/Swinton/Holloway/Leota type of guy at 6. I think that he (Parling) would do well to coach Valentini and Wilson to jump more. Surely they could learn more about this?
14 Go to commentsdo what the ABs normally do and cruise around the South Pacific to cherry-pick the contenders
12 Go to commentsGood read, GP comes across as a very knowledgeable guy and pretty decent human to boot! Genuinely leaves me wondering though, how Australia’s second city could be in with a serious possibility of being left without a pro team. Just how does that get to happen? Credit to the team though, they’re performing pretty well under some horrible circumstances and pressure on their livelihoods. Whoever made the call to boot out DR, his staff and the structure/connections/succession plans he had put in place in unbelievably short order needs strung up by their most sensitive body parts. Thought that at the time and of course, events unfolded even worse than feared!
14 Go to commentsCan’t see an appetite to pick Brad Shields for obvious reasons, but Devan Flanders has got to be in with a shout.
12 Go to commentsThe rise of Hunter Paisami! Good read Nick (as ever). Cheers.
14 Go to commentsAs a long term glos supporter saturday was the last straw. Terrible run of results in league since Jan 23. No excuses , there are 3 conclusions Players simply arent good enough. Coaching team not good enough. Or combination of the 2. Either way glos lost pride in what used to be a team others feared.
1 Go to commentsWhat an interesting article, Nick. Late here, so will comment tomorrow am. “In the UK, you might have three whole months when you train set-piece and it’s pissing down. Over here, we very rarely experience games severely affected by weather..” Did you see the Waratahs game on the weekend ? If not have a look at the weather for that struck that one. Drowning would have a been a worry for any player trapped at the bottomof a pile up. Suspect the water polo people might be looking with interest at some of those rugby players after that game😀
14 Go to commentsThis article overlooks how the 9 position has developed to be a playmaker, which these 2 are both excellent at. Defences are so good now there is not the luxury of going 9 -> 10 on every play. Playing “off 9” as they say, has become very commonplace these days, but 10+ years ago you hardly saw this. Boiling the great modern 9s down to box kicking doesn’t do justice to how good the great ones have become. Dupont would be the first choice 10 in most teams in the world, JGP pops up in places you would never expect a 9 to be.
22 Go to commentsThe banning of the croc roll will make carrying the ball into contact far more risky, leading to more kicking, and the change to the Dupont law will mean forwards have to do far more running than they do now. As a result I think there will be a rise of smaller, more mobile forwards who are strong defenders and strong over the ball like Kirifi.
3 Go to commentsWhat does the ownership of the club have to do with the poor performance of the team. It’s not as if he’s coaching them or in any way influencing the composition of the teams. I honestly don’t understand the comment.
1 Go to commentsHe knows his body is not up to the work load of international rugby. The fact that Cane only played only 27 of the 46 games the ABs played while he was officially captain is a telling statistic. And that excludes the time he had out with neck injury. He was never able to put a long enough body of work together to get back to his best without a new injury setting him back. He knows better than anyone that the problem will get worse, not better, given the same workload. Correct decision and good luck to him.
11 Go to comments