Italy women's national rugby union team

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

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	7 (as of 23 October 2023)
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

Top 20 rankings as of 27 November 2023

Rank	Change*	Team	Points
1		England	096.18
2		New Zealand	090.56
3		France	087.89
4		Canada	086.27
5		Australia	081.61
6		Wales	076.67
7		Italy	075.61
8		Scotland	074.37
9		United States	072.02
10		Ireland	071.52
11		Japan	069.38
12		Spain	064.89
13		South Africa	064.37
14		Russia	061.10
15		Netherlands	060.02
16		Samoa	059.57
17		Fiji	058.65
18		Hong Kong	058.31
19		Sweden	056.01
20		Kazakhstan	055.97
*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

On 6 March 2023, Italy named a 38-player squad for the 2023 Women's Six Nations Championship.

Player	Position	Age	Caps	Club
Sara Barattin	Scrum-half	36	111	Arredissima Villorba Rugby
Francesca Barro	Prop	23	1	Valsugana Rugby Padova
Jessica Busato	Centre	29	11	Arredissima Villorba Rugby
Gaia Buso	Centre		0	Arredissima Villorba Rugby
Beatrice Capomaggi	Centre	26	7	Arredissima Villorba Rugby
Alice Cassaghi	Prop		3
Giulia Cavina	Flanker	23	0	CUS Milano
Mathilde Cheval	Centre		0	Valsugana Rugby Padova
Alyssa D'Incà	Centre	21	15	Arredissima Villorba Rugby
Giordana Duca	Lock	30	34	Valsugana Rugby Padova
Valeria Fedrighi	Lock	30	28	Stade Toulousain
Giada Franco	Flanker	26	23	Rugby Colorno
Alessandra Frangipani	Flanker	19	3	Arredissima Villorba Rugby
Lucia Gai	Prop	31	29	Valsugana Rugby Padova
Elisa Giordano	Flanker	32	27	Valsugana Rugby Padova
Francesca Granzotto	Scrum-half	21	4	Unione Rugby Capitolina
Alessia Gronda	Wing	22	0	CUS Torino
Laura Gurioli	Hooker	28	2	Arredissima Villorba Rugby
Isabella Locatelli	Lock	28	23	Rugby Colorno
Veronica Madia	Fly-half	28	27	Rugby Colorno
Alessia Margotti	Lock	23	1	Valsugana Rugby Padova
Gaia Maris	Prop	21	18	Valsugana Rugby Padova
Aura Muzzo	Wing	26	29	Arredissima Villorba Rugby
Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi	Wing	21	20	Valsugana Rugby Padova
Alessia Pilani			0
Alissa Ranuccini	Flanker	22	2	Rugby Colorno
Beatrice Rigoni	Centre	27	32	Valsugana Rugby Padova
Sofia Rolfi	Wing	21	0	Rugby Colorno
Sara Seye	Prop	22	15	Transvecta Rugby Calvisano
Francesca Sgorbini	Flanker	22	18	ASM Romagnat
Michela Sillari	Centre	30	74	Valsugana Rugby Padova
Emanuela Stecca	Prop	26	9	Arredissima Villorba Rugby
Sofia Stefan	Scrum-half	30	73	Valsugana Rugby Padova
Emma Stevanin	Fly-half	21	6	Valsugana Rugby Padova
Arianna Toeschi	Scrum-half	22	0	CUS Torino
Sara Tounesi	Lock	27	23	ASM Romagnat
Silvia Turani	Prop	27	22	FC Grenoble
Vittoria Vecchini	Hooker	21	15	Valsugana Rugby Padova

See also

• Italy national rugby union team

External links

• Federazione Italiana Rugby official site