Leonardo Ghiraldini: 'The supporters in Italy are unbelievable'

Leonardo Ghiraldini, a member of the last Italy side to win at home in the Guinness Six Nations, knows better than most what sort of pressure the Azzurri players will be under this Saturday when they take on Scotland in Rome.

The 39-year-old former hooker from Padova was firmly established in Italy’s front row when they downed Ireland 22-15 in March 2013, a result that is unthinkable in the current rugby climate and seems a very long time ago.

But the visit of Scotland – a team they have beaten more than any other in the Six Nations – brings renewed hope that they can finally deliver the goods at Stadio Olimpico.

Italy’s best two results in recent times came away from the ancient city; they beat Wales in Cardiff in the final round of the 2022 championship, which is still the last time they came out on the winning side in the Six Nations, before delivering another statement result later that year against Australia.

That first-ever win over the Wallabies was in Florence, not Rome, where the phrase “home advantage” is the best example of an oxymoron you will ever come across in sport.

The Ireland result was soon after Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation, the first time this had happened in nearly 600 years, so the Azzurri still have some way to go before the white smoke – or the white flag – comes out.

Still, as the ledger of Roman losses continues to grow, with the 27-24 defeat against England in this year's round one the most recent example, so does the pressure from fans and the media.

“I went to the stadium when Italy played England in Rome, and I saw how people screamed and supported Italy during the game and how sad they felt after the game," said Ghiraldini to RugbyPass.

“The supporters in Italy are unbelievable and there will be 80,000 there against Scotland. The guys feel the pressure; I felt the responsibility and the urgency to win in the last few years of my career.

“Winning is what sport is all about, of course, but it’s important to feel the pressure positively and respond with a performance where you are playing to your potential. The result will be a consequence of that.

“Of course, the media are pushing for a win, especially when we play at home and when we play against Scotland and Wales, they start saying we can do it, we can win. But when you do that you stop thinking about the process that will get you the win.”

Other than some TV and ambassadorial work for the Italian Rugby Federation, Ghiraldhini is not directly involved in rugby. But he, like all other Italian fans, was watching in anguish when the ball fell from Paolo Garbisi’s kicking tee a fortnight ago and his rushed effort struck the post, denying Italy a first-ever Six Nations away win against France.

“I was skiing in the Dolomites mountains with my family – my daughter was born in France and my son is half-Italian and half-French – and we watched the game when we were there. It was tough to watch.”

Even so, Ghiraldini was encouraged by many aspects of the performance in Lille. “We didn’t play in the first half we defended a lot (making over 100 tackles) and we defended very, very well in the last 10 metres. But we didn’t perform in attack, we didn’t have quality ball to play with.

“If you see how they reacted to errors last week, it was much better. They just got on and thought about the next job. That’s the best thing we can take from the France game. During the World Cup, if we made a mistake we made error after error.”

In that respect, Ghiraldini sees similarities between the current group of players and the team he represented 107 times. “More than half of the national team was playing for Treviso, myself included, and we were playing really well and had one of the best seasons for 10 years. We brought that winning mentality to the national team.

“It was a very good Ireland too, but we played with confidence from the first minute until the end. Sergio Parisse had a yellow card in the second half and that is sometimes when Italy struggle, when something negative like that happens. We kept fighting and continued to play with the right mentality.”

Having had the wooden spoon in their possession for the last eight years, Italy again find themselves bottom of the standings on points difference. But the three points gained from the narrow defeat to England and the draw with France – plus the fact they have two winnable games on paper left – has given them an injection of confidence at a time in the tournament when, ordinarily, their heads are bowed.

“Consistency is the key,” Ghiraldini continued. “Now is the moment for this young group of people to recognise they have set the standard – and it is their standard. It wasn’t perfect against France but it was better than at the World Cup. It is a start for them to build on.

“In 2013, we had a good group of players and we had the right mentality and we brought that into the national team. But instead of pushing more and building something special, the Italian federation stopped investing a little bit; they were probably happy enough with the results.

“Players stopped coming through and to start again, to build again is quite hard. Now we are seeing the results of some of the investment the Italian federation has made in the last few years. It is not enough, of course, it is not enough, but the national team is growing with a group of players who know they can win games at this level.”