Kieran Crowley has made eight changes to his starting Italy XV for their first Test match since their shock Guinness Six Nations win over Wales in March.
by Liam Heagney View all Italy National Rugby Union Team news
FEATURED
Ex-Kangaroos boss joins Italy coaching staff for upcoming World Cup
Tim Sheens, who guided Australia to World Cup glory in 2013, has bolstered Italy's backroom team for this year's tournament.
LATEST
International Rugby
Why Luke Romano chose Blues over Highlanders and why he won't play for Italy
International Rugby
'A tremendous honour': Hollie Davidson set to make history in June
International Rugby
The 5 Laws World Rugby will pass into use as of July 1st
View all Italy National Rugby Union Team news
The Italy national rugby union team, also known by rugby fans as the Azzurri, are one of Europe’s finest sides. They represent the country of Italy in the Six Nations Championship and they’ve featured in every edition of the Rugby World Cup since the tournament was founded in 1987.
Read on to discover more about the Italy national rugby union team. On this page, you’ll find all the team’s recent results and upcoming fixtures. We’ve also detailed the team’s history and outlined the latest news about the side
The history of rugby union in Italy dates all the way back to 1911, but the national team didn’t play their first competitive game until 1929, when they lost 0-9 against Spain. Only five years later, Italy became a founding member of FIRA, who are now known as Rugby Europe.
Following the end of World War Two, rugby gained prominence in the country and the Italy national rugby union team improved quickly throughout the 1970s and 80s. During this period, several Italian stars emerged and the team began to face high-class opponents like South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
Towards the turn of the millennium, the Italy national rugby union team began to perform well in the Rugby World Cup (although they never got past the pools stage) and began to regularly beat opposition in the Rugby Europe Championship. When the side began to beat teams in the Five Nations Championship, there was a clamour for them to join an expanded competition so the Italian team could test themselves against the best on a regular basis.
The Italy national rugby union team finally joined the competition in 2000. However, the delays meant that the side lost many of their best players before joining. Since, Italy have struggled in the Six Nations Championship and they’ve never won the tournament. However, they have won several games against tier-one opponents like Wales, Ireland and South Africa in recent years. To date, they’ve recorded victories against all their opponents in the Six Nations except England.