This is the best Italy Six Nations XV of all time, as voted for by the fans
Italian rugby fans have voted for the 'ideal' Italy XV of the Six Nations, with just three current players making the cut. Over five thousand people participated in the vote for the XV, with fans picking from a squad of fifty-five candidates from the one hundred and ninety players who, from February 5, 2000 to today, who have represented Italy in rugby's oldest and most prestigious international tournament.
Head coach went to Pierre Berbizier, the French guru who led Italy between the summer of 2005 and autumn of 2007, guiding them to fourth place in the Six Nations 2007 thanks to an away victory over Scotland and a home win over Wales. It was a close call, with Berbizier earning 26.2% of the votes, beating off John Kirwan (22%) and Nick Mallett (20%).
Andrea Masi, MVP of the 6 Nations 2011, grabbed the 15 jersey with 67.7% of the votes. He's joined by modern-day boy wonder, Matteo Minozzi (40%) and the hulking Giovanbattista Venditti (23.1%) on the wings.
Nearly 50% of the preferences for outside centre went to Michele Campagnaro (48.9%), while inside centre went to Mirco Bergamasco ( 23.1%). Sharpshooter Diego Dominguez sailed to the No.10 jersey with 69.7% votes, while inside him at 9 is another Italian in legend Alessandro Troncon (61.6% ), the first Italian to break the 100 caps milestone.
It will surprise no one that Sergio Parisse is named at No.8 with 87.2% of the vote. It makes you wonder what the other 12.8% were thinking. At seven is the nearly equally legendary Mauro Bergamasco, who served Italy from 2000 to 2015. He bagged 49.4% of the votes, while Simone Favaro had to fight considerably harder for his place at blindside with 27.2%.
Captain of the unforgettable campaign of 2007, Marco Bortolami, garnered 57.3% of the votes and won the number 5 shirt, while Carlo Checchinato (18%) fought off Quintin Geldenhuys by three percentage points (15%).
The mighty and hairy Martin Castrogiovanni collected 86.8%, with Andrea Lo Cicero grabbing 56% of the votes at loosehead. while Leonardo Ghiraldini concluded the team at hooker with 57.5% of the votes.
THE BEST ITALIAN SIX NATIONS XV
15 Andrea Masi (95 caps, 67,7%)
14 Matteo Minozzi (19 caps, 40%)
13 Michele Campagnaro (36 caps, 48,9%)
12 Mirco Bergamasco (89 caps, 23,1%)
11 Giovanbattista Venditti (44 caps, 23,1%)
10 Diego Dominguez (74 caps, 69,7%)
9 Alessandro Troncon (101 caps, 61,6%)
8 Sergio Parisse (142 caps, 87,2%)
7 Simone Favaro (36 caps, 27,2%)
6 Mauro Bergamasco (106 caps, 49,4%)
5 Marco Bortolami (112 caps, 57,3%)
4 Carlo Checchinato (83 caps, 18%)
3 Martin Castrogiovanni (119 caps, 86,8%)
2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (104 caps, 57,5%)
1 Andrea Lo Cicero (103 caps, 56%)
Latest Comments
I think we need to get innovative with the new laws.
Now red cards are only 20 minutes, Razor should send Finau on a head hunting mission to hospitalise their 10 with a shoulder to the chops.
Give the conspiracy theorists a win.
England played well enough to win but couldnt score when they needed to and couldnt defend a couple of X-Factor moments from Telea which was ultimately the difference. They needed to hold the ball more and make the AB's make more tackles. Territorially they were good for the first 60. Defending their lead and playing pragmatic rugby in the last 20 was silly. The AB's always had the potential to come back. England still have a long way to go, definite progress would have been shown had they won but it seems they are still stuck where they were shortly after the six nations and their tour to NZ
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