David Odiase’s words gathered momentum like a stream train. What had started out as a routine post-match interview quickly became something else entirely: a drawing of the line in the sand. A swipe at rugby union’s smug, smirking top table. A warning.
“I’m very proud that we’re sending a big message to the world of rugby – that we’re coming for all of you people,” the Italy Under-20s captain said.
“We’ve been working hard and eating shit a lot for the past years, and now the results have started coming. This is just the beginning of a long process. But one day we can compete with all international teams.”
Odiase’s comments came in the wake of a gut-wrenching 28-27 defeat to France in the opening round of the U20 Six Nations, where the Azzurri were a missed conversion away from a landmark win.
The skipper’s interview soon spread across social media with the speed of an Ange Capuozzo linebreak.
Why? Because, for the first time in eons, the wider public have reason to believe he might be right.
After half a decade of painful, sometimes embarrassing, non-performances at Test level, Italy finally saw the fruits of a long-term process of youth development and shrewd decision-making last year.
It’s hard to understate how monumental 2022 was for the Azzurri. They won five of their 11 Test matches, giving them a win rate of 45%. That was the highest in a calendar year since 2007, and the highest in a non-Rugby World Cup year since 1998.
That famous win in Wales on Super Saturday ended a run of 36 straight Six Nations defeats and was followed up in the autumn by a first-ever Test victory over Australia.
Those stunning results may have felt like they a bolt from the azure blue at the time, but those paying attention to the swelling undercurrent had long believed it was only a matter of time before Italy’s promise erupted to the surface.
Odiase – who has been as impressive on the pitch as off it – leads a side that has already earned four bonus points in this year’s U20 Six Nations and will be confident of getting wins on the board in the next few weeks.
But the current crop is far from the first group of youngsters to make a splash at youth level.
Conor O’Shea’s appointment as Italy coach in 2016 heralded the first major changes to the development system, and his decision to bring in former Irish youth chief Stephen Aboud to oversee it proved to be a masterstroke.
Aboud, who is widely credited with being a driving force behind kick-starting the immense conveyer belt of talent in Ireland, set up an academy system that helped identify players at a young age before guiding and nurturing them towards reaching elite rugby.
Under his watchful eye, the results soon came. While the senior side had failed to win a game since 2015 until their triumph in Cardiff, the Italy Under-20s have notched at least one win in each of the last five editions.
The Azzurrini have finished fourth twice and fifth twice, all of their wins coming against Scotland and Wales until a historic first-ever victory over England last year – after which Aboud posted highlights of the game on LinkedIn with the message: “and five years later…”
2022 was a landmark year for the youngsters as well as the top team, as they won three matches out of five and were only denied a top-half finish on points difference by England, despite winning one more game.
The Italian Rugby Federation’s determination to get top people involved in youth rugby was underlined this year when experienced and respected coach Andrea Di Giandomenico was appointed
History has been made recently at Under-18 level, too; in 2021, Italy defeated four of the five countries from the Six Nations, losing only to France.
The Italian Rugby Federation’s determination to get top people involved in youth rugby was underlined this year when experienced and respected coach Andrea Di Giandomenico was appointed to lead the Under-18s.
Di Giandomenico left the women’s national team last year after a 12-year stint in which he steered the Azzurre to some huge landmarks: a first runners-up Six Nations finish in 2019, a climb to fifth in the world rankings and a quarter-final spot at the Rugby World Cup last year in New Zealand.
And the new boss quickly underlined the importance of his new role in aiding the transition.
“This is the age where boys invest in their sport,” he said.
“We have the duty to accompany them in the discovery of their potential, and to educate them in the process of bringing it towards full development as players and people.”
It hasn’t just been Italy’s improvement at youth level that has helped them restore credibility and become competitive again.
Azzurri great Mirco Bergamasco told me in an interview two years ago that the main problem stopping Italian rugby’s growth was that “90 per cent of our players play in Italy”.
He argued that “letting them go abroad, to have new experiences in other teams and leagues that are more developed…allows you to open your eyes about rugby and understand more. You need that, because playing for a team in another country allows you to see, hear and understand things that maybe aren’t possible in Italy.”
At that point, two of the 32 players in the Italy squad played for clubs outside of their home country.
Franco Smith may not have tasted much success as Italy coach – he lost each of his 10 Six Nations games in charge – but he was willing to boldly put faith in the new generation.
Fast forward to 2023, and Kieran Crowley’s Azzurri side has 10 overseas-based players, including the likes of Capuozzo at star-studded Toulouse, Paolo Garbisi at Montpellier and six Premiership-based players.
But going back three years, another key moment can be identified with the aid of hindsight.
Franco Smith may not have tasted much success as Italy coach – he lost each of his 10 Six Nations games in charge – but he was willing to boldly put faith in the new generation.
His 2020 Six Nations squad included uncapped youngsters Fischetti and Niccolo Cannone, who have since become first-team regulars.
Within a year, the likes of Garbisi, Michele Lamaro, Riccioni, Gianmarco Lucchesi, Stephen Varney, Federico Mori and Marco Zanon had been promoted to find out what Test rugby was all about.
Initially, the answer was brutal, as they were whitewashed once again in 2021. But the lessons they learned that year and the togetherness they formed through those experiences helped carry the squad into the memorable events of last year.
“We are building a young team, with a new mentality, a new game, a new technical creed and this process is also based on the lessons that can be learned by playing at the highest level,” Smith said ahead of Autumn Nations Cup in 2020.
The now-Glasgow Warriors coach may not have seen instant results, but his sage philosophy and belief were proven right over time.
Kieran Crowley’s arrival as coach in May 2021 took things to the next step. The World Cup-winning former All Black came prepared for the challenge ahead after a successful five-year spell in charge of Benetton.
Crowley deserves plaudits for pushing the Treviso side on and bringing some credibility back to Italian club rugby.
On his watch, Benetton went from perennial underachievers to serious competitors; they were the first Italian club to reach the Pro14 play-offs in 2018/19, and in 2020/21 they made history by becoming the first team from Italy to win an international trophy by clinching the Rainbow Cup.
The coach left Benetton in a much better place and now, under the guidance of Marco Bortolami, they are pushing for the play-offs once again – although Zebre are yet to enjoy a similar turnaround in fortunes.
On taking the Italy job, Crowley was determined to oversee a similar turnaround in results.
Our results haven’t been great over the last few years and there’s only one way we can go.
Kieran Crowley, Italy coach
“It was a case of knowing Italian rugby I suppose, because I’ve been here for five years, and hoping I would make a difference so when I leave it’s in a better place,” he said after being appointed.
“Our results haven’t been great over the last few years and there’s only one way we can go.”
And that was the way they went. After a win over Uruguay and defeats to Argentina and New Zealand in his first year, Crowley’s side finally ended the 36-match Six Nations hoodoo in 2022, a result that provided the springboard to further victories over Portugal, Romania, Samoa and the Wallabies.
Defeat to Georgia last summer showed there is still a long way to go, but a haul of five wins in a non-World Cup year was their highest in the professional era, and the most overall since 1993.
Crowley has taken the team forward, balancing an abrasive forward pack with a talented backline that aims to play bold, heads-up rugby.
The stunning, unexpected explosion of Capuozzo last year has provided a sprinkling of stardust.
The 23-year-old won World Rugby’s Breakthrough Player of the Year award last year after slaloming through the Welsh defence to create the match-winning try in Cardiff, as well as scoring braces against Scotland and Australia and touching down against South Africa.
With the anchor of dreadful recent history finally yanked up, the Azzurri have set sail and started the 2023 Six Nations campaign encouragingly, if painfully, coming agonisingly close to a stunning win against Grand Slam champions France in Rome.
Crowley’s side fell five points short despite leading in the final quarter, and although they were comfortably beaten in Twickenham a week later, there were positives to be taken from the performance there too – not least seeing Capuozzo skin defenders for fun.
“Not long ago, after going 19-6 down (against France) it would have got out of hand, but instead we continued to believe and follow our plan,” Lamaro said after the French defeat.
On top of a coach whose ethos and tactical planning they have bought into, a backline that can puncture the steeliest defences and a generational talent in Capuozzo, Italy’s improved discipline has been a cornerstone of their improvement.
They conceded just 9.1 penalties per game last year and were the only nation to be in single figures.
So far this year, only Scotland (20) and England (17) have conceded fewer than Italy’s 21 penalties in the first two rounds, while the lineout has been rock-solid, winning 34 and losing just one – a record only England (35 and 0) can better.
You don’t win with heart; you don’t do a big performance with only heart. It’s the first thing, because without it you can’t play sport.
Michele Lamaro
The Azzurri’s efforts to play an expansive, free flowing style can be seen in the stat charts, too: they have the second-most metres made and carries overall (behind Ireland), while being bottom for metres kicked and top for passes made.
What’s more, in Lamaro they have found a true leader who is setting new standards.
“You don’t win with heart; you don’t do a big performance with only heart. It’s the first thing, because without it you can’t play sport,” he said after the loss to France.
“Our passion isn’t even a thing of doubt. I’m not asking any more of my team because I know it’s going to be there. I know everyone gives everything he has for this shirt.”
A momentous year stretches ahead for this exciting young Italian side, but there’s no doubting that the challenges ahead will be arduous.
Two of the current top five in the world – Ireland and Scotland – are still to come in the Six Nations, while another two, France and New Zealand, await in their unenviable World Cup pool later this year.
A result in any of those games – particularly at the World Cup – would represent a colossal shock to the rugby elite.
But should it happen, don’t say you weren’t warned – Odiase has made sure of that.
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