Italy women's national rugby union team

Italy

Nickname(s)	Le Azzurre (The Blues)
Union	Federazione Italiana Rugby
Head coach	Giovanni Raineri
Captain	Elisa Giordano
Most caps	Sara Barattin (111)
Top scorer	Veronica Schiavon (383)
Top try scorer	Manuela Furlan (20)
First colours Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current	6 (as of 15 April 2024)
First international
Italy 0–0 France  (Riccione, Italy; 22 June 1985)
Biggest win
Germany 0–52 Italy  (Hamburg, Germany; 7 April 2005)
Biggest defeat
Italy 0–74 England  (Parma, Italy; 3 April 2022)
World Cup
Appearances	4 (First in 1991)
Best result	9th 2017

Women's
World Rugby Rankings

• v
• t
• e

Top 20 rankings as of 15 April 2024^[1]

Rank	Change*	Team	Points
1		England	096.18
2		New Zealand	090.56
3		France	088.00
4		Canada	086.27
5		Australia	081.61
6		Italy	076.50
7		Scotland	075.80
8		Wales	073.41
9		United States	072.57
10		Ireland	072.35
11		Japan	069.38
12		South Africa	065.17
13		Spain	065.15
14		Russia	061.10
15		Samoa	059.57
16		Netherlands	058.98
17		Fiji	058.65
18		Hong Kong	058.31
19		Kazakhstan	055.97
20		Sweden	052.72
*Change from the previous week

The Italy women's national rugby union team (Italian: nazionale di rugby a 15 dell'Italia) 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.

History

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 entry

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 Nations

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.

Records

Rugby World Cup

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 Nations

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

Rugby Europe Women's Championship

Competition				Total
European Championship	3	1	3	7

Overall

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	6	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%

Players

Current squad

Italy's 31-player squad was announced on 11 March for the 2024 Women's Six Nations Championship.^[2][3][4]

Player	Position	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club/province
Laura Gurioli	Hooker	(1995-02-02)2 February 1995 (aged 29)	7	Villorba
Vittoria Vecchini	Hooker	(2002-01-13)13 January 2002 (aged 22)	20	Valsugana
Alice Cassaghi	Prop	(2000-11-21)21 November 2000 (aged 23)	2	Milano
Lucia Gai	Prop	(1991-05-03)3 May 1991 (aged 32)	95	Valsugana
Gaia Maris	Prop	(2001-07-27)27 July 2001 (aged 22)	27	Romagnat
Alessia Pilani	Prop	(1999-05-06)6 May 1999 (aged 24)	3	Colorno
Sara Seye	Prop	(2000-08-26)26 August 2000 (aged 23)	20	Ealing Trailfinders
Emanuela Stecca	Prop	(1997-02-24)24 February 1997 (aged 27)	7	Villorba
Silvia Turani	Prop	(1995-07-06)6 July 1995 (aged 28)	30	Harlequins
Giordana Duca	Lock	(1992-09-18)18 September 1992 (aged 31)	43	Valsugana
Valeria Fedrighi	Lock	(1992-09-05)5 September 1992 (aged 31)	50	Toulouse
Isabella Locatelli	Lock	(1994-10-23)23 October 1994 (aged 29)	46	Colorno
Sara Tounesi	Lock	(1995-07-19)19 July 1995 (aged 28)	35	Sale Sharks
Ilaria Arrighetti	Back row	(1993-03-02)2 March 1993 (aged 31)	57	Rennes
Giulia Cavina	Back row	(1999-11-15)15 November 1999 (aged 24)	4	Milano
Giada Franco	Back row	(1996-07-11)11 July 1996 (aged 27)	32	Colorno
Alessandra Frangipani	Back row		5	Villorba
Elisa Giordano (c)	Back row	(1990-11-01)1 November 1990 (aged 33)	65	Valsugana
Francesca Sgorbini	Back row	(2001-01-07)7 January 2001 (aged 23)	20	Romagnat
Beatrice Veronese	Back row	(1996-03-11)11 March 1996 (aged 28)	16	Valsugana
Francesca Granzotto	Scrum-half	(2002-03-22)22 March 2002 (aged 22)	6	Capitolina
Sofia Stefan	Scrum-half	(1992-05-12)12 May 1992 (aged 31)	82	Valsugana
Micol Cavina	Fly-half	(1999-11-15)15 November 1999 (aged 24)	0	Villorba
Veronica Madia	Fly-half	(1995-01-16)16 January 1995 (aged 29)	46	Grenoble Amazones
Emma Stevanin	Fly-half	(2002-04-11)11 April 2002 (aged 21)	11	Valsugana
Beatrice Rigoni	Centre	(1995-08-01)1 August 1995 (aged 28)	70	Sale Sharks
Michela Sillari	Centre	(1993-02-23)23 February 1993 (aged 31)	82	Valsugana
Alyssa D'Incà	Wing	(2002-03-23)23 March 2002 (aged 22)	21	Villorba
Aura Muzzo	Wing	(1997-04-12)12 April 1997 (aged 26)	40	Villorba
Beatrice Capomaggi	Fullback	(1997-04-29)29 April 1997 (aged 26)	12	Valsugana
Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi	Fullback	(2001-12-06)6 December 2001 (aged 22)	28	Valsugana

Previous squads

See also

• Italy national rugby union team

References

External links

• Federazione Italiana Rugby official site

This page was last edited on 14 April 2024, at 17:02