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Silvia Turani: 'Premiership Women's Rugby a big opportunity for Italy'

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 15: Silvia Turani of Italy poses for a photograph during the 2023 TikTok Women's Six Nations Media Launch at Studio Spaces on March 15, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Italy prop Silvia Turani is looking forward to welcoming more of her international team-mates to the Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) next season.

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Having spent last term in Devon with Exeter Chiefs, helping the club to a second successive league final, it was confirmed on 21 July that Turani will move to Harlequins Women ahead of the 2023-24 campaign.

News of the switch came on the eve of Italy’s WXV play-off victory against Spain at Stadio Walter Beltrametti last Saturday, a match in which she lined up alongside Beatrice Rigoni and Sara Tounesi, who will be team-mates at Sale Sharks this year.

That trio will be joined in the PWR by international prop Sara Seye, who has signed for Ealing Trailfinders Women ahead of their debut campaign.

“We are aware that playing abroad can be really challenging and a way to develop our rugby,” Turani said.

“Of course, you want people to stay in Italy as well because we have a league in Italy, and you want to have good Italian players in Italy. But I think right now, being abroad is just a big opportunity for us.

“It will be really interesting for me also playing against other Italians. It’s always nice for me when I face some other Italians and even more that some of them are props so it will be interesting in the scrum, seeing each other. And then also if you have a day off, you know that you can meet some other Italians.

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“Of course, it’s always interesting when you try something new. I guess when you’re living a new experience you grow as a person, as a player. And that’s what I wish for everyone.”

Turani is ready for the opportunities that await at Harlequins and is excited by the prospect of living within a train ride of London, having spent a season near the south Devon coast.

“I always said, I want to live my life for one year near the sea, and I’ve done that in Exeter, and for one year at a place in a big city and I guess that London is a big city,” she said.

“I’ve met some of the girls [at Harlequins] and they’ve been incredibly welcoming and everything, so I’m sure it will be great there.”

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Turani’s season as a Chief was disrupted by a broken hand sustained during the Azzurre’s first Women’s Six Nations match in March and ended in the disappointment of defeat in the showpiece match as Gloucester-Hartpury won the Premier 15s final at Kingsholm.

But having come so close to glory, the loose-head prop looks back on her time at Sandy Park with fondness.

“We had a wonderful season; we won many games. Of course, the end of the season was tough,” Turani said. “A final is a final, but we went there, we played our game and after the game we were aware that Gloucester played better than us. In sport it happens.”

That might be true, but Turani admits the experience has given her “more willingness” to play in another final, which should be music to the ears of her new team-mates and fans at Harlequins.

She certainly feels that she has become a better player during her time in England. “I’ve learned a lot,” Turani said. “The intensity, the physicality that you have to face every week is outstanding.

“And also, I think I’ve learnt how to manage nerves better because every game there is as organised and as planned as a Six Nations game. It’s a big thing every game with lots of crowd, thousands of people coming to every game of the season, which is really cool.

“Yeah, I would say that of course I have improved a lot and the coaches have been outstanding the whole season.

“I’ve been really lucky… when you play with outstanding and world-class players you learn every day. Also, in the little details, that can be in the gym or in the preparation or the way they analyse the game.”

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JW 5 hours ago
New report details source of Ardie Savea's All Blacks frustrations

Yeah it’s hard to be critical of Razor but of choices in his first year of the loosies he constantly played Ardie at 8. It would seem that was always the plan and that Hoskins was surplas to requirements (7, with Dalton then Cane, as was fairly happy with but understand the calls to drop Cane for his last test, along with TJ, and 6 was shared around nicely I thought) and he didn’t have the alround game of Ardie to simply overtake him at 8 (and use Ardie elsewhere). Of course he did that exact thing next year, too late for HS. Then last year 7 was fine if though the same problem was brought about by using Ardie (always leaves a component of a back three missing) there so often stopping Dalton from getting opportunities. At 6 Parker just had one or two too many games for me but 8 was shuffled around nicely, even if I don’t know why Lakai was thought to be the key there.

Of course a lot of rotation was brought about by, you guesed it, injury, still. Now to be fair to Razor, in reality we have no idea if he had to manage Ardie this way, based on NZRs desires with his contract (we have seen them move heaven and earth to retain him), and if he benched him often whether that would have caused him to leave or not. Or even that Hoskins would have accepted a jersey unless it was with a single digit on it, and a regular pick, as he had had to work his way back to the team without a big bump in his contract (of loosing AB selection early on) of other people his standing, so he also might have still put his family and therefor more over the jersey.



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