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Italy women's national rugby union team

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For the men's team, see Italy national rugby union team. For the women's sevens team, see Italy women's national rugby sevens team. For the women's rugby league team, see Italy women's national rugby league team.


Italy women's national rugby union team are the national women's rugby union team that represents Italy at international level. It has been administered by the Italian Rugby Federation since 1991; previously, since its inception in 1985 up to 1991, it was administered by UISP – Unione Italiana Sport Popolari (Italian Union for People's Sports), an association which promotes amateur sports at every level of the society. The team competes in the Rugby World Cup, the Rugby Europe Women's Championship and the Women's Six Nations Championship.

Italy
Nickname(s)Le Azzurre (The Blues)
UnionFederazione Italiana Rugby
Head coachGiovanni Raineri
CaptainElisa Giordano
Most capsSara Barattin (111)
Top scorerVeronica Schiavon (383)
Top try scorerManuela Furlan (20)
First colours
Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current5 (as of 9 January 2023)
First international
 Italy 0-0 France 
(Riccione, 22 June 1985)
Biggest win
 Italy 52-0 Germany 
(Hamburg, 7 April 2005)
Biggest defeat
 England 76-6 Italy 
(Rome. 9 February 2008)
World Cup
Appearances4 (First in 1991)
Best result9th 2017
Women's World Rugby Rankings
Top 20 rankings as of 27 March 2023[1]
Rank Change* Team Points
1 Steady  England 094.29
2 Steady  New Zealand 093.19
3 Steady  France 089.88
4 Steady  Canada 084.22
5 Steady  Italy 078.50
6 Steady  Australia 078.00
7 Steady  United States 077.25
8 Increase1  Wales 073.94
9 Decrease1  Ireland 072.76
10 Steady  Scotland 068.71
11 Steady  Spain 068.00
12 Steady  Japan 067.94
13 Steady  South Africa 064.50
14 Steady  Russia 061.10
15 Steady  Hong Kong 059.25
16 Steady  Netherlands 059.24
17 Steady  Fiji 058.33
18 Steady  Samoa 058.01
19 Steady  Kazakhstan 057.09
20 Steady  Sweden 056.76
*Change from the previous week

HistoryEdit

On June 22, 1985 the Italian women's national team made their international debut against France. The match ended 0–0, they played again a year later in Bardos, with France winning 12–0. Italy scored their first points in their third match against France when the two neighbors met in Rome in 1987, France won 16–4.

In 1988 Italy participated in the first European championship organized in Bourg-en-Bresse in France by the local women's club. In addition to the hosts, the other two participants were Great Britain and the Netherlands. Italy finished last with three losses. The inaugural edition of this championship, while significant for being the first competition for women's national teams, was never recognized as official by FIRA.

Italian Rugby Federation entryEdit

In 1991 the management of women's rugby was handed over to the Italian Rugby Federation. Their first commitment was the selection of the team for the inaugural edition of the World Cup which was held in April of that same year in Wales. The Azzurre, after having finished last in their pool, were placed in the Plate quarter-finals. They had their first victory in the tournament after defeating Sweden 18–0 in the Plate quarter-final but lost to Canada 6–0 in the Plate semi-final.

The progress of the national team was slow. In their first 15 years of existence, up to the end of 2000, they played in only 33 official matches. In 1995 they came third in the European championship organized at home in Treviso, a result equaled one year later in Madrid, Spain. After a first round elimination with a sixth place finish at the 1997 European Championship, they finished 12th at the 1998 Women's Rugby World Cup in the Netherlands.

They finished 7th at the 1999 European Championship and 8th in 2001. They won their first Nations Cup title in Veneto in 2002 ahead of the Rugby World Cup, in which Italy finished in twelfth place. Italy won the 2005 European Championship which was held in Hamburg in Germany. In the 2006 Nations Cup Italy successfully defended their title.

Admission to the Six NationsEdit

In December 2006, the Executive Committee of the Six Nations decided to align the composition of all competitions of the tournament with the men's, which included England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, France and Italy; at the time the only difference with the women's tournament was the presence of Spain, which the committee replaced with Italy starting in 2007.

  • Italy women's national rugby union team in 2013.

  • Italy women's national rugby union team in 2014 during 6 nations tournament.

RecordsEdit

Rugby World CupEdit

Rugby World Cup
Year Round Position GP W D L PF PA
  1991 Plate semi-final N/A 4 1 0 3 34 31
  1994 Did Not Participate
  1998 11th Place Playoff 12th 5 2 0 3 108 81
  2002 11th Place Playoff 12th 4 1 0 3 45 121
  2006 Did Not Participate
  2010 Did Not Qualify
  2014
  2017 9th Place Playoff 9th 5 2 0 3 75 117
  2021 Quarter-final – 4 2 0 2 58 79
Total 5/9 9th 22 8 0 14 320 429
  Champions   Runners-up   Third place   Fourth place Home venue

Six NationsEdit

  Italy
Tournaments 16
Outright Wins 0
Grand Slams 0
Triple Crowns —
Wooden Spoons 3

Rugby Europe Women's ChampionshipEdit

Competition       Total
European Championship 3 1 3 7

OverallEdit

See: List of Italy women's national rugby union team matches

(Full internationals only)
Correct as of 11 February 2023

Rugby: Italy internationals 1985-
Opponent First game Played Won Drawn Lost Percentage
  Belgium 2006 1 1 0 0 100.00%
  Canada 1991 2 0 0 2 0.00%
  England 1991 23 0 0 23 0.00%
  France 1985 26 4 0 22 12.50%
  Great Britain 1988 2 0 0 2 0.00%
  Germany 1996 7 7 0 0 100.00%
  Ireland 1997 20 2 0 18 10.00%
  Japan 2002 4 3 1 0 66.67%
  Kazakhstan 2001 2 0 0 2 0.00%
  Netherlands 1988 8 5 0 3 62.50%
  Russia 1998 4 4 0 0 100.00%
  Samoa 2013 1 1 0 0 100.00%
  Scotland 1995 22 15 1 6 68.18%
  South Africa 2018 1 1 0 0 100.00%
  Spain 1991 15 5 0 10 33.33%
  Sweden 1991 8 5 0 3 62.50%
  United States 2012 3 1 0 2 33.33%
  Wales 1999 21 7 1 13 33.33%
Summary 1985 164 57 3 104 34.76%

PlayersEdit

Current squadEdit

Italy named their final 32-player squad on the 21 September 2022, for the 2021 Rugby World Cup.[2]

Player Position Caps Club/Province
Francesca Barro Prop 1 Valsugana Rugby Padova
Lucia Gai Prop 84 Valsugana Rugby Padova
Gaia Maris Prop 12 Wasps
Michela Merlo Prop 11 Rugby Colorno
Sara Seye Prop 8 Transvecta Rugby Calvisano
Emanuela Stecca Prop 3 Arredissima Villorba Rugby
Silvia Turani Prop 20 Exeter Chiefs
Melissa Bettoni Hooker 72 Stade Rennais
Vittoria Vecchini Hooker 11 Valsugana Rugby Padova
Giordana Duca Lock 31 Valsugana Rugby Padova
Valeria Fedrighi Lock 36 Stade Toulousain
Isabella Locatelli Lock 34 Rugby Colorno
Sara Tounesi Lock 24 Sale Sharks
Ilaria Arrighetti Back Row 56 Stade Rennais
Giada Franco Back Row 24 Rugby Colorno
Elisa Giordano (c) Back Row 56 Valsugana Rugby Padova
Francesca Sgorbini Back Row 13 ASM Romagnat
Beatrice Veronese Back Row 12 Valsugana Rugby Padova
Sara Barattin Scrumhalf 107 Arredissima Villorba Rugby
Sofia Stefan Scrumhalf 69 Valsugana Rugby Padova
Veronica Madia Fly-Half 32 Rugby Colorno
Emma Stevanin Fly-Half 2 Valsugana Rugby Padova
Beatrice Capomaggi Centre 4 Arredissima Villorba Rugby
Alyssa D'Inca' Centre 10 Arredissima Villorba Rugby
Beatrice Rigoni Centre 57 Valsugana Rugby Padova
Michela Sillari Centre 70 Valsugana Rugby Padova
Manuela Furlan Outside Back 88 Arredissima Villorba Rugby
Francesca Granzotto Outside Back 2 Unione Rugby Capitolina
Maria Magatti Outside Back 46 CUS Milano Rugby
Aura Muzzo Outside Back 27 Arredissima Villorba Rugby
Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi Outside Back 16 Valsugana Rugby Padova
Sofia Rolfi Outside Back 0 Rugby Colorno

See alsoEdit

ReferencesEdit

  1. ^ "Women's World Rankings". World Rugby. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  2. ^ "NAZIONALE FEMMINILE: ANDREA DI GIANDOMENICO ANNUNCIA LE 32 ATLETE CONVOCATE PER LA COPPA DEL MONDO". www.federugby.it. Retrieved 2022-09-22.

External linksEdit

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