LONG READ Louis Lynagh: 'I'm surprised how many people don’t know I’m half Italian'

Louis Lynagh wants to set the record straight. Forget the surname soaked in Australian rugby folklore. Forget a decade dedicated to the English game at Harlequins.

For Lynagh, moving to Treviso to join Benetton was nothing short of a homecoming.

“I was born in the hospital that I drive past every day,” he tells RugbyPass.

“I only lived here until I was five. But my dad played here, he met my mum here, and we’ve come on holiday here every year since.”

Lynagh’s deep-rooted connection to Treviso means he didn’t even need to find himself a place to live when he joined the ambitious URC club ahead of the 2024-25 season.

Instead, he just moved in with granddad.

“It’s awesome, living in our family home. It’s basically like I’m on holiday here. It’s really relaxing,” he explains.

“When I go to training it’s 100% focus, but when I come back to my granddad’s house it’s a nice disconnect. We just sit in the garden and relax, I can help him out with whatever he needs.

“He’s very active, he cycles into town most days which is 20 kilometres each way. He’s a pretty cool guy.”

Being born in Italy to an Italian mother, with annual trips back to the peninsula, has also ensured the language barrier is less of an issue for Lynagh than it could be for others.

People always assume I’m half English, half Australian. Obviously when you hear me talk, you would think I’m completely English.

He says he can “understand everything” and hopes to speak with fluency within six months, while he has already been given the Italian alias ‘Luigi’ by his new team-mates.

It might have made his life easier if that was his real name – Lynagh has had to deal with his fair share of unfair comments since committing to the Azzurri cause at the start of the year.

“When I first started playing for Italy, I saw on Instagram that people were saying: ‘He’s not really Italian, is he?’ I try to ignore those people,” he says.

“But I’m surprised by how many people don’t know that I’m half Italian.

“They always assume I’m half English, half Australian. Obviously when you hear me talk, you would think I’m completely English.”

Lynagh’s decision to represent the land of his mother ended a potential three-way tussle involving Australia, where his father Michael is considered an all-time Wallabies great, and England, the country he was brought up in and represented at youth level.

Louis’ younger brother Tom, who joined the Queensland Reds in 2022, has followed in his father’s footsteps and is now an Australia international.

And while that option never looked likely for Louis, he may well have ended up wearing the red rose of England were it not for an ill-timed injury.

Lynagh’s breakout season in 2020/21, which culminated in the wing scoring two late tries to seal an astonishing Premiership title triumph for Harlequins in the final against Exeter Chiefs, earned him a call-up to an England training squad under Eddie Jones.

However, he wasn’t capped, and a serious knee problem two weeks before the team was announced for England’s summer tour to Australia then halted his momentum, until Italy reached out to offer him another shot at the Test rugby stage earlier this year.

I wasn’t getting any real chatter from the England side, so I thought I’m 23, I’m still young, but now is the time to get started.

“I was having a bit of an up and down year coming off an injury. It had still hampered me a bit and I was trying to get back to where I was before the injury,” Lynagh explained.

“When I signed for Benetton, I got the call from (Italy head coach Gonzalo) Quesada and we talked about me playing for Italy. I talked to my parents and in my head, at that point in my career it was a no-brainer.

“I had just signed for Benetton; I hadn’t got much chatter from the England or Australia side. I can understand the Australia side because I’m not playing for an Australian team and it’s so far away.

“But I wasn’t getting any real chatter from the England side, so I thought I’m 23, I’m still young, but now is the time to get started. Talking to Gonzalo, he’s an amazing coach and person with a true passion for rugby and developing players.

“I made the decision to go with it and so far, it’s been the best decision for me. As we’ve seen, the Italian team is only on an upwards trend right now and being part of that group is special. I have no regrets, and I feel there will be success for the team down the road.”

Regardless of where he ended up, the Lynagh surname was always going to attract attention.

Michael Lynagh held the world points scoring record when his glittering international career ended in 1995, four years after he steered the Wallabies to World Cup glory.

So is the surname a help or a hindrance while trying to carve your own path in the world of rugby?

“I knew it had some weight with it, especially at school where people had lofty expectations,” Lynagh says. “If I didn’t score a hat-trick in every game, I would be seen as a flop in schoolboy rugby!

The only help we’ve had from Dad was guidance and some tactical advice. When I was younger, I didn’t really listen to him, but now I do.

“But I never felt any pressure from it. My dad has always been the opposite, he didn’t even push us into rugby.

“He was always advocating that we play all sorts of different sports whether that’s football, cricket, swimming, golf, anything. It just so happened that me and my two brothers have found our way down the rugby route, and we have a huge passion for it.

“Luckily, we have some good genes! We’re all forging our own career in our own way. We haven’t had any help. The only help we’ve had was from guidance from him and some tactical advice. When I was younger, I didn’t really listen to him, but now I do.”

Lynagh could not have picked a much better time to join a burgeoning Azzurri side that is growing in stature, style and self-belief year on year.

After ending their long Six Nations winning drought in Wales in 2022, the same year Italy claimed their first-ever win over Australia, a surprise coaching change after a disappointing 2023 Rugby World Cup helped take things to the next level.

Quesada’s arrival as the successor to Kieran Crowley took many by surprise at the time, but the former Argentina fly-half made an instant impact by steering the Azzurri to wins against Scotland and Wales in the 2024 Six Nations, as well as a draw against France in which they were one last-gasp missed conversion away from a stunning victory.

Lynagh’s introduction came against the Scots in Rome, where he scored a try on his debut as the Italians claimed their first Six Nations victory on home soil for 11 years.

The 23-year-old made an instant impression with his power and pace, keeping his starting shirt for Super Saturday as the Azzurri beat Wales in Cardiff to finish with back-to-back wins.

Playing international rugby is such a great experience but one that I keep wanting to have because it’s where you get tested by the best in the world

“I can’t think of a better way of making my debut; in front of a packed-out crowd in Rome – that stadium is amazing – scoring and winning the game in the fashion we did,” Lynagh recalls.

“It had been 11 years since we had won in Rome. The fact we were down and came back, held onto the lead and defended like animals, it was just incredible. From the start of the week where I found out I was going to be starting across the field from Duhan (van der Merwe), to playing, to winning, it was an incredible feeling.

“Playing international rugby is such a great experience but one that I keep wanting to have because it’s where you get tested by the best in the world and if you want to be one of the best in the world, you have to thrive in those environments.

“I’m hoping I can get exposed to more of that in the future and we can keep having success in Rome and turning it into a fortress.”

Lynagh added to his caps over the summer as the Azzurri earned wins on the road against Tonga and Japan but fell to defeat against Samoa – the wing’s only loss in five matches as an international player.

The autumn will be an intriguing barometer of just how much progress this young, enterprising Italian side has made.

First up they face Argentina, who sit one place above Italy in the world rankings in seventh, before Georgia – for so long the team wanting to grab the Azzurri’s Six Nations spot – arrive on the peninsula.

That’s where we want to get to, being talked about as fierce opposition, getting into the conversation of winning the Six Nations…

Finally, the All Blacks come to the Juventus Stadium in Turin for a daunting Test that offers Quesada’s side a chance to truly make waves in the sport.

“We want to get to a point where people aren’t painting us as the Cinderella story anymore,” Lynagh said.

“It would be great to break into the top five of the world rankings and that people aren’t saying ‘the All Blacks will walk all over them,’ but that it’s a proper game.

“That’s where we want to get to, being talked about as fierce opposition, getting into the conversation of winning the Six Nations and going head-to-head with these historically massive teams.”

Before then, though, Lynagh’s focus will be on domestic affairs and getting off to a strong start with Benetton in the URC.

The Treviso club opened the season with a 20-20 draw against Scarlets on Saturday night, Jacob Umaga missing a late conversion which could have brought victory. This week it’s a a trip to face champions Glasgow Warriors, an early gauge of progress for  a Benetton squad packed with Azzurri stars.

After a period of Leinster dominance between 2017 and 2021, the league has offered up three different champions in three years with the Stormers and Munster claiming the first two URC crowns before Warriors’ stunning victory over the Bulls in Pretoria in last season’s thrilling final.

“Watching Glasgow win was amazing,” Lynagh said. “They have an amazing squad but it’s very similar to Benetton; it’s comprised of a lot of internationals and a few other really good foreign players.

“The URC is a very tough league and that was one of the reasons I wanted to come here, to challenge myself with different styles of rugby. One week you’re playing in Scotland, the next week you might be in South Africa. It’s an awesome experience as a professional rugby player.”

Benetton will also be back competing at the top tier of European rugby this season, tackling Clermont, Bath, Bristol and La Rochelle in a daunting Pool 2 that also includes Leinster.

The URC is something I want to push for. I feel that if everyone buys into it and has the ultimate goal of achieving winning the URC, we can go a long way.

While battling through that group will be a gargantuan task, Lynagh is convinced the URC is an achievable target for the ambitious Italian club, who finished seventh last season before losing to the Bulls in the quarter-finals.

“Our goals this season are to make the URC play-offs again, and to earn respect in the Champions Cup,” Lynagh said.

“Who knows, maybe we will go far in both competitions, but I think the URC is something we can really challenge for.

“The amount of talent we’ve got in the group, with experience and youth, we’ve got great squad depth as well which is required for those long months, especially as the URC plays during the international windows. You need that squad to get valuable points when the internationals are away.

“The URC is something I want to push for, and I feel that if everyone buys into it and has the ultimate goal of achieving winning the URC, we can go a long way.”

One thing is for sure; for club and country, it looks like Lynagh could be in the right place at the right time. Just call him Luigi.