Rugby: Rugby-Exciting Italy dream of mission impossible

(Reuters) – Italy have appeared at every Rugby World Cup without ever reaching the knockout stage and they will need something extraordinary to end that streak after being grouped alongside France and New Zealand in Pool A.

Italy won two out of four Pool games at the last five tournaments but those victories have come against lower ranked sides. They will expect to continue that run against Namibia and Uruguay this time.

Italy’s warm-up games have shown a similar pattern. Defeats by Scotland and Ireland followed by wins over Romania and Japan.

Kieran Crowley goes into the World Cup knowing it is his last tournament as Italy coach. The Italian Rugby Federation decided to replace him with Argentine Gonzalo Quesada and the New Zealander will be keen to leave on a high note.

His first Six Nations campaign in 2022 saw Italy win their first game in the competition since 2015 with victory over Wales. While this year’s Six Nations brought only defeats, their performances improved.

Against France, Italy led with over an hour played before the French scraped a 29-24 win. The final Pool A game sees Italy take on the hosts, a game Crowley will target as their chance of a quarter-final place.

Facing New Zealand is familiar territory for Italy at the World Cup. This is the seventh time the sides have been drawn together. Overall, they have met on 15 occasions and Italy have lost all 15.

Italy have been hit by injuries with centre Tommaso Menoncello and fullback Edoardo Padovani unavailable. Scrumhalf Stephen Varney, injured in the warm-up against Ireland, did make the squad and scored a try against Japan.

Luckily, the rising star of Italian rugby, Ange Capuozzo, also recovered. The 24-year-old burst onto the scene in his international debut, coming off the bench to score two tries against Scotland in 2022.

Capuozzo also scored twice in Italy’s historic win over Australia last year, but a shoulder injury against Ireland in February ended his season. He returned with a bang – another two tries in the 57-7 win over Romania on Aug. 19.

The fullback can also play wing giving Italy options, with the experienced Tommaso Allan moving from flyhalf to fullback. This would also allow Paolo Garbisi into the side at flyhalf.

“In the final selection, the ability of some players to cover more than one role had a specific weight, allowing us to expand our available choices,” Crowley said when announcing his squad.

Italy will hope winger Monty Ioane’s try-scoring form continues into the World Cup. He scored a hat-trick against Japan to add to tries in the warm-up games with Romania and Scotland.

Crowley’s young, entertaining squad have nothing to lose and history to gain. Winning the opening two games to qualify for the next World Cup is their first objective.

After that, Italy will once again attempt the seemingly impossible.

(Reporting by Trevor Stynes; Editing by Ken Ferris)