Tommaso Menoncello doesn’t feel like a superstar. In fact, when asked in his native tongue if he does, he simply scoffs at the suggestion, a warm smile spreading across his face.
“I’m still very young, with a lot to learn,” he smiles, before fixing this writer with a more serious tone. “My goal is to become one. That is what I want and what I dream of.”
“But I’m not yet what you say. I hope to get there one day…to be considered one of the best centres in the world.”
Maybe he’s being modest, for the more you get to know about Menoncello, you realise it’s not in his character to indulge in braggadocio.
Indeed, this humility comes from the fact that his life is yet to be uprooted. After all, being one of rugby’s most beguiling young talents hasn’t stopped him from continuing to live in his family home near Treviso like any 22-year-old Italian.
“I’m still living with my parents for now. I’m looking for a house but I’m very happy with them,” he says.
“Being very close to the pitch from home, I’m not in a hurry. At least, until they throw me out!”
He assures me with a smile that his mother cooks “very, very well.” Anyone who has sampled Italian home cooking can understand why leaving the family nest would be a wrench.
![Paolo Garbisi and Tommaso Menoncello](https://eu-cdn.rugbypass.com/webp-images/wp/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-2183882142.jpg.webp?maxw=766&comp=95)
But while Menoncello downplays his status, a compelling argument can easily be made that he should now be considered among the most influential stars of the Six Nations.
Last year, the centre was voted Player of the Tournament as Italy earned their best-ever Six Nations results with two draws and a win. For good measure, in the Autumn he added a try against the All Blacks to his showreel, and helped Benetton make history as the first Italian club to reach the Champions Cup knockout stages.
Unfortunately, he was only on the pitch for two minutes during his club’s historic win over La Rochelle that sealed the latter landmark, as he was forced off following a clash of heads.
Residing at Italy’s training base in Rome Menoncello is speaking on his first full day back training.
He assures me that he is fighting fit for the start of a tournament where more eyes will be on him than ever before, so does he enjoy the extra attention he is now getting?
My dad brought home a flyer for a rugby camp in Paese, another place near my home. I went along to try out rugby for the first time, and from that point on I was in love.
“Sometimes yes, sometimes no, like after training when we’re tired, but I do like the attention and I’m happy to do it. It’s part of the job.
Yet even if he’s not a man who craves the spotlight off the pitch, Menoncello has been utterly focused on being the best on it since Lady Luck first dropped a rugby ball into his hands.
“I live in small town called Quinto, and there was a football club there where I started to play a bit of sport when I was young. After three years, the club went out of business,” he says.
“My dad brought home a flyer for a rugby camp in Paese, another place near my home. I went along to try out rugby for the first time, and from that point on I was in love. I was nine or 10. I did three years with that team and then moved to Treviso, and from there everything progressed.”
![Tommaso Menoncello](https://eu-cdn.rugbypass.com/webp-images/wp/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-2092670107.jpg.webp?maxw=766&comp=95)
From the moment he first set eyes on that flyer, Menoncello goal was singular; to play rugby professionally.
“I never had any other thoughts or ambitions other than becoming good at rugby and an important player for the national team, basically what I am now,” he adds.
He’s not joking. When asked what he gets up to in his spare time, Menoncello replies: “I have a girlfriend called Anna and I spend a lot of time with her away from rugby.
“I don’t have many hobbies; I go to the gym. I don’t have a lot of free time and when I do, I dedicate it to resting and studying plays and things from training. I should start studying, but…” his voice trails off.
Let’s call him a sporting scholar then. According to Menoncello, after his interest was piqued, a certain New Zealander had a big impact on him growing up.
My idol was always Sonny Bill Williams. From a young age I watched every All Blacks game.
“My idol was always Sonny Bill Williams,” he says.
“From a young age I watched every All Blacks game. I was watching him and even looking at what he was doing on social media. I looked up to him when playing youth rugby.”
It was for that reason that Menoncello’s late consolation try in November’s 29-11 defeat to New Zealand in Turin, his first time playing against the All Blacks, that sparked such an uncharacteristically animated celebration.
“I exploded with joy; all the emotions I had for that match came out in those last few minutes,” he says.
That try topped a remarkable 2024 for Menoncello, but his ascent was no surprise to those in Italy’s inner-circle.
![Tommaso Menoncello](https://eu-cdn.rugbypass.com/webp-images/wp/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-2186532179.jpg.webp?maxw=766&comp=95)
In February 2022 at a soggy Stade de France, Menoncello leapt into the sky to grab a Paolo Garbisi cross-field kick and dotted down in the corner.
The celebrations that erupted from his team-mates weren’t only because the score put the Azzurri ahead, but because Menoncello’s beautifully executed try on his Test debut made him the youngest try scorer in Six Nations history aged 19.
“I wasn’t expecting to make my debut like I did…it was crazy,” he says.
“Going from the Stadio Monigo (Benetton’s 5,000-seater home ground) to the Stade de France was incredible,” he added.
“It was full of 70,000 people, an incredible feeling. In the first few minutes I had some feelings of anxiety and fear, but once the whistle blew everything was normal.”
It doesn’t matter to me what’s written in the papers. I’m fortunate to have team-mates who help me in my role to not feel pressure. It’s very simple.
France went on to win comfortably, but the teenager’s impact on the wing did not go unnoticed, and he was soon dubbed a predestinato in some sections of the Italian press; namely a player preordained for success.
“Obviously I read it, and it was nice to see, but I never thought that I was something I’m not,” he says.
“It doesn’t matter to me what’s written in the papers. I’m fortunate to have team-mates who help me in my role to not feel pressure. It’s very simple.”
One team-mate who has certainly helped make that rise simpler is Menoncello’s partner-in-crime in the Azzurri midfield, Juan Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Brex.
Their partnership for club and country, dubbed ‘Brexoncello’, was at the heart of Italy’s Six Nations success in 2024, but the Italo-Argentine outside centre, 10 years Menoncello’s senior, has provided indispensable advice from the offset.
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— Guinness Men’s Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) April 5, 2024
“Since I arrived at Benetton at the top level, he was always the first to teach me. To now be feared by other teams as a partnership makes me very proud and happy,” Menoncello says.
“Obviously, having him at both club and international level creates an even stronger link, which we can bring into Six Nations and Italy matches.
“As well as helping me, this connection with Nacho helps the whole team, because we are a bit unpredictable together and we know each other very well. We understand each other just with a glance.”
While it may seem from the outside that Menoncello’s rise has been stress-free from that rainy day in Paris to now, that is far from the truth.
Menoncello faced a devastating blow in 2023 when he suffered a bicep and shoulder injury five minutes from the end of Italy’s final World Cup warm-up game against Ireland, which required surgery and ruled him out of the tournament.
It was a devastating blow for a player on an upward trajectory and ready to make his mark on the sport’s biggest stage.
But he found a way of turning that gut-wrenching disappointment into motivation when the Six Nations rolled around the following year.
It was from that point [beating Scotland] that the other teams started to give us a bit more respect than they did before.
“After I got injured, my objective was to come back as quickly and as strongly as possible. When I had the chance to play the Six Nations, I wanted to show that even after the injury, I was the same player as when I got injured, if not even better, and I think I did that.
“I’m proud of the award I won and the results we achieved as a team.”
After running England closer than ever before in a three-point defeat in Rome, Italy suffered a chastening 36-0 loss in Ireland.
However, they bounced back with a 13-13 draw in France where Garbisi’s last-second kick agonisingly came back off the post to deny Italy a stirring victory.
Unperturbed, the Azzurri finished their campaign spectacularly, beating Scotland 31-29 in Rome to seal their first home Six Nations win in 11 years before claiming a second consecutive away victory over Wales in Cardiff.
The stunning win over the Scots under the Roman sunshine will live longest in the minds of the long-suffering Italian fans, though, a day when the final whistle brought piles of teary-faced Italians to the turf in euphoria and relief.
“It was a win that gave us a lot of confidence.”
“It made us understand the level that we are at and that we can aim for. Maybe it was from that point that the other teams started to give us a bit more respect than they did before.
![Tommaso Menoncello](https://eu-cdn.rugbypass.com/webp-images/wp/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-2071021907.jpg.webp?maxw=766&comp=95)
“That’s what we are working towards, earning credibility overseas, in the eyes of the fans and the other teams. We want to be a team to be feared.”
Gaining respect has long been the mantra of this Azzurri squad, who are determined to demonstrate that last year’s results weren’t a one-off as they celebrate the 25th anniversary of their involvement in the competition with one of the strongest squads in that period.
“Earning respect is always something we work on, but also being consistent and maintaining this level,” Menoncello explained.
“To continue delivering consistent performances and keep improving, to earn more respect from other teams and be feared a bit more by them. This year the bar has been raised, and we must raise our game and our performances.”
Menoncello is still looking to add levels his game, too. He may see superstar status as pending rather than secured, but he does not lack ambition and belief in what he’s capable of. Could that be becoming one of the greatest Italian players ever?
“That’s what I want,” he says with a smile. “I don’t know if I’ll manage it, but I would like to.”
Missed 15 tackles last year in the 6N, with only Brex (17) missing more. Still has some work to do, but exciting to watch.