A settled and talented Italy team will aim to make some Rugby World Cup history in Australia by reaching the knockout stages for the first time.

For all their improvements and the welcome shift in how they are perceived in the Men’s Six Nations, Italy bear the scars of Rugby World Cup 2023. The Azzurri shipped 96 points to New Zealand and another 60 to France to limp home after the pool stage.

This group, though, is settled, talented and full of confidence. Since 2023, they have pushed South Africa hard and claimed statement wins over Australia, Scotland, Wales and, most notably, England for the first time ever.

Their scrum is a weapon, they have a powerful set of back-rowers and one of the best centre pairings in the business.

Any calls for their demotion from Europe’s elite have long since been silenced and having competed at every Men’s Rugby World Cup, Italy will expect to make their first knockout stage appearance at Australia 2027.

Players to watch

Juan Ignacio Brex 

The elder half of the ‘Brexoncello’ midfield axis which has won so many plaudits. Reinvented himself as a canny playmaker having begun his career punching holes with his 6ft 3ins bulk. A vital leader, game-driver and facilitator.

Ange Capuozzo

Proves those of diminutive stature can still thrive in a sport filled with giants. Small, slight and lithe, Capuozzo has vexing footwork and searing pace. His aerial skills will come under scrutiny and injuries have limited his test minutes in 2026, but he remains world-class in the number 15 shirt.

Tommaso Menoncello

Coaches have queued up to lionise Italy’s greatest talent. His team-mates joke he was ‘touched by God’, such is his extraordinary athletic prowess. Has learned how to harness his muscle-bound frame and dynamism to devastating effect and was plucked from Benetton to join French giants Toulouse. Menoncello wept when injury in a warm-up match ruled him out of RWC 2023 in France. Will be eager to make up for lost time.

RWC icon

Hard to look past Italy’s ultimate icon Sergio Parisse, their record caps holder and only inductee into World Rugby’s Hall of Fame.

The great Parisse played in five Rugby World Cups from 2003 to 2019, though a typhoon in Japan denied him a farewell match on the grandest stage.

A fly-half’s skillset with a number eight’s size and power, Parisse played in 142 tests, including more than 90 as captain, and continues his Rugby World Cup journey as part of Gonzalo Quesada’s coaching staff in Australia.

RWC cult hero

When the beloved Ivan Francescato died suddenly in 1999, weeks before his 32nd birthday, the Benetton Treviso board retired his number 13 shirt.

He scored arguably Italy’s most brilliant Rugby World Cup try, dancing past flailing USA defenders back in 1991. It was just his fifth cap.

Francescato was part of the free-spirited cohort who made Italy’s case for Six Nations inclusion undeniable by the turn of the millennium. A box-office talent whose legacy endures, with the FIR’s national academy named in his honour.

Head coach

When Gonzalo Quesada was appointed after France 2023, the Argentine built upon the foundations laid by Franco Smith and Kieran Crowley, infusing pragmatism and maturity in an Italian side which has shattered its glass ceiling.

Fluent in Spanish, French, Italian and English, the former Pumas fly-half played in two Rugby World Cups during a 38-cap career. As head coach, he guided Stade Français to a Top 14 crown and EPCR Challenge Cup and took the Jaguares to the Super Rugby final.

Most memorable match

Nearly all of Italy’s ‘big’ RWC pool matches have ended in defeat. Their biggest scalp was defeating Argentina, long before the Pumas were part of the Rugby Championship conversation, in 1995.

The heroic Diego Dominguez contributed 21 points in his team’s 31-25 win in East London, his 75th minute try and conversion sealing victory against the country of his birth. It still wasn’t enough for Italy to reach the quarter-finals.

Pool journey

3 October 2027 v South Africa (Adelaide│Tarntanya)
11 October v Romania (Sydney│Gadigal)
17 October v Georgia (Newcastle│Awabikal-Worimi)

Did you know…? 

Italy took part in the first Rugby World Cup match in 1987, facing host nation New Zealand in the much-anticipated curtain-raiser at Eden Park. Sir John Kirwan ran the Azzurri ragged with a memorable try straight from a kick-off, one of a dozen the All Blacks scored in a 70-6 victory.

Italy have faced New Zealand at five World Cups since, in 1991, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2023, conceding at least 70 points in four of those meetings. They were also scheduled to face each other in the pool stage at Japan 2019, but the match had to be cancelled following Typhoon Hagibis.  

RWC history 

Pool stage (10) - 1987, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019, 2023

Italy are the only nation to have appeared at every edition of Men’s Rugby World Cup without progressing beyond the pool stages. They finished third in their four-team pool in each of the first three editions before a fourth-placed finish in 1999, the only time they have failed to win at least one match.

Since 2003 they have finished third in a five-team pool in the last six editions, winning two of their four matches on each occasion.

Key stat

Italy scored from all 18 of their place-kick attempts at RWC 2023 (three penalties, 15 conversions), the only side to attempt five or more kicks in a single edition and maintain a 100 per cent success rate.

RWC Fast facts 

• RWC debut: 1987
• RWC best finish: Third in pool (nine times)
• Most RWC appearances: Sergio Parisse (15)
• Top RWC try scorer: Marcelo Cuttitta (five)
• Top RWC points scorer: Tommaso Allan (101)