This is the best Italy Six Nations XV of all time, as voted for by the fans
Italian rugby fans have voted for the ‘ideal’ Italy XV of the Six Nations, with just three current players making the cut. Over five thousand people participated in the vote for the XV, with fans picking from a squad of fifty-five candidates from the one hundred and ninety players who, from February 5, 2000 to today, who have represented Italy in rugby’s oldest and most prestigious international tournament.
Head coach went to Pierre Berbizier, the French guru who led Italy between the summer of 2005 and autumn of 2007, guiding them to fourth place in the Six Nations 2007 thanks to an away victory over Scotland and a home win over Wales. It was a close call, with Berbizier earning 26.2% of the votes, beating off John Kirwan (22%) and Nick Mallett (20%).
Andrea Masi, MVP of the 6 Nations 2011, grabbed the 15 jersey with 67.7% of the votes. He’s joined by modern-day boy wonder, Matteo Minozzi (40%) and the hulking Giovanbattista Venditti (23.1%) on the wings.
Nearly 50% of the preferences for outside centre went to Michele Campagnaro (48.9%), while inside centre went to Mirco Bergamasco ( 23.1%). Sharpshooter Diego Dominguez sailed to the No.10 jersey with 69.7% votes, while inside him at 9 is another Italian in legend Alessandro Troncon (61.6% ), the first Italian to break the 100 caps milestone.
It will surprise no one that Sergio Parisse is named at No.8 with 87.2% of the vote. It makes you wonder what the other 12.8% were thinking. At seven is the nearly equally legendary Mauro Bergamasco, who served Italy from 2000 to 2015. He bagged 49.4% of the votes, while Simone Favaro had to fight considerably harder for his place at blindside with 27.2%.
Captain of the unforgettable campaign of 2007, Marco Bortolami, garnered 57.3% of the votes and won the number 5 shirt, while Carlo Checchinato (18%) fought off Quintin Geldenhuys by three percentage points (15%).
The mighty and hairy Martin Castrogiovanni collected 86.8%, with Andrea Lo Cicero grabbing 56% of the votes at loosehead. while Leonardo Ghiraldini concluded the team at hooker with 57.5% of the votes.
#XVideale di #Italrugby: la migliore Italia del @SixNationsRugby scelta da voi ??
ADVERTISEMENTGrazie agli appassionati che hanno dato il proprio voto tramite la piattaforma #Fanize ?
Tutti i dettagli sulla formazione ? https://t.co/dGn3VxG7NN#Insieme, verso le prossime sfide ? pic.twitter.com/Msi2acvDkD
— Italrugby (@Federugby) May 16, 2020
THE BEST ITALIAN SIX NATIONS XV
15 Andrea Masi (95 caps, 67,7%)
14 Matteo Minozzi (19 caps, 40%)
13 Michele Campagnaro (36 caps, 48,9%)
12 Mirco Bergamasco (89 caps, 23,1%)
11 Giovanbattista Venditti (44 caps, 23,1%)
10 Diego Dominguez (74 caps, 69,7%)
9 Alessandro Troncon (101 caps, 61,6%)
8 Sergio Parisse (142 caps, 87,2%)
7 Simone Favaro (36 caps, 27,2%)
6 Mauro Bergamasco (106 caps, 49,4%)
5 Marco Bortolami (112 caps, 57,3%)
4 Carlo Checchinato (83 caps, 18%)
3 Martin Castrogiovanni (119 caps, 86,8%)
2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (104 caps, 57,5%)
1 Andrea Lo Cicero (103 caps, 56%)
Comments on RugbyPass
I think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
7 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
7 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
61 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
7 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
61 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to comments