Namibia face Italy in challenging opener
Know the team
The Italy rugby team has played international rugby since 1929, and for decades was considered one of the leading European teams outside the Five Nations Championship of the four Home Unions and France.In 2000, Italy was added to the Championship which then became known as the Six Nations Championship.
The Azzurri, as the team is known, has improved noticeably in recent years.
Italy has played in all nine World Cup tournaments since 1987, but is yet to progress beyond the first round.
They are regarded as a team consistently in the middle of the result range at World Cup tournaments – typically winning two and losing two pool matches.
Italy have a huge task facing them as Kieran Crowley’s talented young team try to reach the knockout stage of the World Cup for the first time.
The New Zealander has been in charge of the Azzurri since the summer of 2021, having previously been head coach of Benetton for five years in Italy, and Canada before that between 2008 and 2016.
The 61-year-old Crowley has done a marvellous job in charge of Italy, rebuilding them from Six Nations no-hopers to a threat, picking up wins over Wales (in Cardiff), Australia and Samoa, while also pushing France and Scotland close. The announcement he will depart after the 2023 World Cup came as a big surprise.
Italy's 2023 Rugby World Cup squad
Fly-half Tommaso Allan is the most experienced player in the Italy squad heading to France for Rugby World Cup 2023.
Allan, who can also play full-back, will feature in his third Rugby World Cup after representing the Azzurri in England in 2015 and in Japan in 2019.
Luca Morisi is the only other back with past tournament experience, while seven of the forwards played at RWC 2019. They are Simone Ferrari, Danilo Fischetti, Federico Zani. Marco Riccioni, Federico Ruzza, David Sisi and Sebastian Negri.
The squad includes two sets of brothers in the Garbisis (Paolo and Alessandro) and the Cannones (Niccolò and Lorenzo).
Forwards (19): Pietro Ceccarelli, Simone Ferrari, Danilo Fischetti, Ivan Nemer, Marco Riccioni, Federico Zani, Luca Bigi, Epalahame Faiva, Giacomo Nicotera, Niccolo Cannone, Dino Lamb, Federico Ruzza, David Sisi, Lorenzo Cannone, Toa Halafihi, Michele Lamaro (captain), Sebastian Negri, Giovanni Pettinelli, Manuel Zuliani.
Backs (14): Alessandro Fusco, Alessandro Garbisi, Martin Page-Relo, Stephen Varney, Tommaso Allan, Giacomo Da Re, Paolo Garbisi, Juan Ignacio Brex, Luca Morisi, Pierre Bruno, Ange Capuozzo, Monty Ioane, Paolo Odogwu, Lorenzo Pani.
Key players
Full-back Ange Capuozzo, who burst onto the scene with his stunning run and try assist for Italy to beat Wales in Cardiff in the 2022 Six Nations, has since gone on to sign for French powerhouses Toulouse at club level and continued to display his wonderful running ability. As a runner, he has been desribed as “more slippery than Jacob Zuma”.
Flanker Michele Lamaro is the skipper and spiritual leader of this building Azzurri group. They are no longer a side simply dispatched.