Does the Autumn Nations Cup threaten Italy’s Six Nations place?
Italy belt out the national anthem during the 2020 Six Nations - but do they deserve their place?
Credit: Inpho
It all begin so brightly on a crisp February day in 2000 as Italy made their Six Nations bow against Scotland at the Stadio Flaminio in Rome.
After years of fighting to get a seat at the top table of European rugby, not many teams would have stopped the Italians that day as they finally trotted out in the spring sunshine.
Fired up on passion, pride and determined to show their worth - they blasted the Scots 34-20 with Diego Dominguez kicking 29 points from the tee.
It is undoubtedly one of their greatest wins and looked as if it would propel them on to dizzier heights in the tournament and yield more success in the Rugby World Cups to come.
However, 12 further wins in 100 Six Nations games makes grim reading for the Azzurri while they have never made the World Cup knockout stages.
With a new tournament on the horizon containing potential Six Nations replacements Georgia, The Flanker asks a question that has been rumbling on for a while now - do Italy deserve their Six Nations place?
Results against Tier One nations
Georgia celebrate their 33-7 victory over Uruguay in the 2019 Rugby World Cup
Credit: AFP
In their long and illustrious history, Italy have just 23 wins against Tier One teams with a 20-18 victory over South Africa their most recent way back in 2016.
Georgia, meanwhile, have zero but have secured recent notable victories in 2018 over Pacific Island nations. Samoa were dispatched 27-19 while Tonga were also beaten 20-9.
One area of the game that Georgia will never be found wanting is the physical contest - which was on show against Tonga as one try came from a pushover maul and the other a crunching short range run.
The Lelos came up against Italy in 2018 as well - the last time the two countries met.
Italy dominated the territory, possession and the game itself as they eased to a 28-17 win with tries from Michele Campagnaro, Mattia Bellini, Dean Budd and Tommaso Allan.
It was an interesting matchup, with the Italians perhaps looking to lay down a marker down and doing so emphatically.
Although they may have many more Tier One wins to their name - Georgia simply don’t have the opportunity to play the big boys due to hectic international schedules.
They have won 11 out of last 13 Rugby Europe Championship’s - which is informally known as Six Nations B and contains Romania and Russia amongst others.
Quite simply, they have outgrown the league they are in and need a new challenge.
Although a recent 48-7 drubbing by Scotland may have damaged their credentials for joining the Six Nations, it won’t have dampened their desire for more tests against top sides.
It has long be argued by many the Rugby Europe Championship could promote teams to the Six Nations, while Italy would most likely be relegated into the competition.
It is an interesting idea and who knows, the Azzurri could struggle to bounce back immediately and we could see Romania walk out at Twickenham or Spain fight it out at the Aviva Stadium one day.
The club scene
Since the admission of Benetton into the 2010/11 season - and latterly Zebre when they formed in 2012/13 - it is safe to say that they have not lit the world on fire in the celtic league.
Parma-based outfit Zebre have finished bottom of the pile in every season they have been in it, even coming dead last when the two conference system was brought in ahead of 2017/18.
They were sixth out of seven when the last season was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic.
With three wins out of 15, it must lead pundits to question the merit of the inclusion of Zebre.
In European competition they have never made the knockout stages of the Champions Cup or the Challenge Cup with their best performance a 2nd place finish to Gloucester in the pool stages four years ago.
For Benetton however, it is a story of recent improvement. Since the appointment of former Canada coach and All Black international Kieran Crowley in 2017, the Treviso outfit have gone from strength to strength.
The quarter-final defeat to Munster two years back was heart-breaking as a 76th minute JJ Hanrahan penalty nudged the men from Cork into the semi-finals.
Treviso will hope to go one better this year and with Crowley at the helm - along with Italian legends Marco Bortolami, Fabio Ongaro and Alessandro Zanni on the coaching staff - and you wouldn’t bet against it.
These franchises allow Italian players to compete against the best week in week out, with the Top 12 also nurturing young domestic talent in Italy and acting as a feeder league to Zebre and Benetton.
In Georgia, however, the Didi 10 competition is currently semi-professional and many of their top talents will ply their trade throughout the country.
Lelo Saracens (or formally Rugby Club Lelo Tbilisi) were welcomed into the Saracens global network in 2014 with the English giants seeing the potential in the Georgian domestic scene.
The Lelo Saracens conceded this crazy conversion to during a 11-10 win last season
Without fully fledged professionals training consistently to improve both physically and technically - along with participation in the European club competitions - its hard to see the national team seeing the benefit.
In order to achieve parity with the Italy national side, Georgia need to find investment from somewhere to pay their domestic players more and the national side will ultimately have a greater squad to select from.
It’s not rocket science but if you improve your domestic league situation - the national side will achieve greater things.
The coaches
Former Gloucester and Ulster director of rugby David Humphreys has been brought into the Georgia setup
Credit: Getty Images
It’s safe to say the Lelos have surrounded their inexperienced squad with stellar names off the field in key coaching positions.
Ahead of the Autumn Nations Cup they added 72 cap Ireland international David Humphreys to their setup as a high performance consultant.
Humphreys was widely credited with transforming Gloucester’s fortunes during his spell at the club between 2014 and 2020.
Speaking in October when he was appointed, the Ulsterman said: “Primarily, my role is to come in and support the Georgian coaching team that is already in place.
“Some of the insights and the knowledge we have of the teams we will be playing against, that is where we add value to the staff that are already there.
"Georgia have huge ambitions to progress beyond where they are in terms of being a tier-two nation. They would love, at some stage, to join an increased Six Nations.
“This is the first step for Georgia in showing they are capable of competing and of progressing beyond where they were at the World Cup."
He will be looking to support rookie head coach Levan Maisashvili and has already brought in former Ulster teammate Neil Doak to spice up the Georgia attack in his role as backs coach.
Former France hooker Sebastian Bruno - who has also had spells coaching with Lyon and the French national team - has also been added as a forwards coach for the short term.
It feels like these are long term appointments and - if Humphreys and co stick around for a while, they could oversee mass improvement for the Lelos and maybe see that wish of entering the Six Nations fulfilled.
New Italy coach called it a “dream come true” to get the job
Franco Smith, meanwhile, has enjoyed a baptism of fire in a winless 2020 Six Nations during his first runout as Italy coach.
However, his methods are definitely starting to be felt.
The former head coach of Benetton from 2007 to 2013, Smith is already trying to bring the expansive, running game he used at the Cheetahs to a traditionally forward orientated Azzurri.
It is the biggest job of his career to date - he will be supported by assistant coach Marius Goosen who was previously director of rugby at Treviso.
With Giampiero De Carli in charge of forwards and Alessandro Troncon overseeing the backs, there is an Italian flavour sprinkled in with the Springbok duo.
Smith has a job on his hands to succeed where excellent coaches like Conor O’Shea and Jacquel Brunel struggled to do so. The Autumn Nations Cup will provide that chance.
The players
While Georgia’s talents undoubtedly lie in the pack, Italy have a plethora of bright young things across the board in their squad.
Up front however, Sebastian Negri, Jake Polledri and Braam Steyn form a physical back row with ball carrying power to boot.
At number 10, they have a truly special talent in Paolo Garbisi with the 20-year-old enjoying a breakout season last year in the shortened Pro14 with Benetton.
Having looked for an heir to the great Diego Dominguez for the best part of 15 years - Garbisi could be the man for the future.
Carlo Canna looks to have adapted well to a playmaking number 12 position with Luca Morisi always reliable outside him.
However, in the back three you can’t overlook Wasps’ Matteo Minozzi. A superstar in the making, the diminutive fullback gets better year on year. He is capable of magic in those boots.
Georgia meanwhile can boast a plethora of guys plying their trade in the French Top 14 and pride themselves on the physical aspects of the game.
Loosehead Mikheil Nariashvili has 135 appearances for Montpellier to his name while Guram Gogichashvili is making his way at Racing 92 after signing in 2018.
Flanker Beka Gorgadze plays for Bordeaux and is a a skilfull player capable of linking the backs and the forwards - much unlike the raw power of his almost namesake Mamuka Gorgodze.
Vasil Lobzhanidze already has 50 caps for his country and the Brive scrumhalf still holds the record for the youngest player to appear at a Rugby World Cup at 18 years and 340 days.
Goal kicking flyhalf Tedo Abzhandadze remains perhaps the most exciting of the bunch with the 21-year-old also at Brive where a Georgian contingent is growing.
He was a bright spark in the 2019 Rugby World Cup for the Lelos and they will hope to build their team around him going forwards.
Although both Italy and Georgia won’t meet in the group stages of the Autumn Nations Cup, both will want to prove them can still mix it with the big boys.
A promotion and relegation system does seem inevitable for the Six Nations at some point down the line - much like the Nations League in football - with so many emerging nations knocking on the door.
No doubt the decision makers in Dublin feel keeping Italy is the most lucrative option but if Georgia impress this winter, who knows how long the Lelos can be ignored.