Italian success has been fuelled by coffee
Team who have been together since 2015 are leading revolution in the game, says Kate Rowan
In suitably Italian fashion, the nation’s women’s rugby team are building what they call a “movement” fuelled by the highest-quality espresso, which has led to their group of amateurs becoming one of only two teams – England being the other – to remain unbeaten in the Six Nations.
Valentina Ruzza, who balances life in the second row with a career as a translator and speaks fluent English, French as well as a smattering of Russian, believes the
camera caffe, or coffee room, is one of the Italians’ secret weapons in taking on – and beating – more established rugby nations.
She says: “We gather together and we talk about everything, any worries, it is not like it is anything that special, we might play cards but we make sure to always bring Italian coffee to wherever we travel and because we all work or study as well as playing, it gives us the time to really know each other.”
The Italian women have the advantage of having played together from 2015 without the interruption of players coming in and out from sevens duty, which has affected France this season. Also, although they are underfunded compared with England, small steps, such as introducing autumn internationals, have changed the way Italy’s women view themselves. A couple of seasons ago they were fighting with their union for the right to play in November and this has helped the squad develop a formidable spirit.
Ruzza says: “We have got a lot of confidence from having the opportunity to play autumn internationals, that has made big difference to us psychologically in terms of how we look at our game. In the past we didn’t have the opportunity to play in November and that made us less confident playing against the teams who do play then.
“Now, we have the opportunity to tighten up the group and know each other much better. So, that is why we are playing so well.”
The “movement” Ruzza speaks of is also to do with the exposure the side are now getting, with their games, which were only available as live streams, now being shown live on Sky Italia. This has all fed into the confidence.
“Having Sky Italia showing our matches, seeing newspapers print an entire page on us, is helping people to realise we exist but also giving us confidence that we are helping to grow rugby in Italy,” she says.
“The women’s rugby landscape in Italy has totally changed from it being a minority sport very few people knew about. Now our visibility is increasing, we are part of a great movement.”
The caveat, of course, is that Italy have drawn with Wales but have beaten Scotland and secured a first victory over the Irish. Granted they have yet to play England or France but they beat
Les Bleues for the first time in 2015 and the Red Roses are the next scalp they are focused on. But considering how England have raced ahead, it is significant that in this campaign Italy boast the most accurate place-kicking of any side, with a success rate of 82 per cent.
England head coach Simon Middleton believes that, considering the lop-sided nature of his side’s fixtures to date, today’s game against Italy, in front of an expected record crowd of more than 10,000 at Sandy Park, is the fixture that the tournament has longed for, particularly after England easily beat France 41-26. “You look at how Italy are playing this year and how they have improved year on year, they are a huge success story. It is fantastic because it makes for a spectacle and that is what we need this weekend,” says Middleton.
“We need a great game and for that you need two really good sides and I think you are going to get that. We are respecting the Italians as this is their Grand Slam game.” England (v Italy, Sandy Park 12.05pm) S Mckenna (Saracens); J Breach (Harlequins), E Scarratt (Loughborough), Z Harrison (Saracens), K Smith (Gloucester-hartpury); K Daley-mclean (Loughborough), L Riley (Harlequins); V Cornborough (Harlequins), L Davies (Worcester), S Bern (Bristol), C O’donnell (Loughborough), A Scott (Harlequins), S Beckett (Firwood Waterloo), M Packer (Saracens), S Hunter (capt, Loughborough).
Replacements V Fleetwood (Saracens), H Botterman (Saracens), S Brown (Harlequins), P Cleall (Saracens), J Brown (Loughborough), N Hunt (Gloucester-hartpury), R Burford (Harlequins), E Scott (Harlequins).
Italy M Furlan; A Muzzo, M Sillari, J Busato, S Stefan; B Rigoni, S Barattin; G Giacomoli, M Bettoni, L Gai, V Ruzza, G Duca, I Arrighetti, G Franco, E Giordano.
Replacements L Cammarano, S Turani, S Tounesi, V Fedrighi, F Sberna, F Sgorbini, M Magatti, C Sarasso.