Rugby World Cup 2007: Italy Squad

Italy has played all the previous world cup tournaments since 1987 though they could never enter into the quarter final stage. Their best performance in Rugby world cup was in 2003 Rugby world cup where they got two wins in pool stage though failed to get into quarter final.

Now, this time in France, Italy has a big chance to reach into quarter final. Italy will play in Pool C along with New Zealand, Scotland, Romania and debutant Portugal. Except New Zealand, Italy has the ability to win over other teams. This year’s Six Nations Championship showed that Italy has developed a lot over the recent years. They defeated Scotland and Ireland and finished fourth in Six Nation’s Championship 2007.

Italy coach Pierre Berbizier has formed an experienced side for Rugby world cup 2007. This is going to be the fourth world cup for Italy’s star scrum half Alessandro Troncon who will play his 100^th international match in the tournament. Including Alessandro Troncon there are four members in the squad who have more than 50 match experience to help their side in Rugby world cup 2007. The other three veterans are captain Marco Bortolami, Andrea Lo Cicero and Mauro Bergamasco. From world cup 2007 squad, 13 players got chance to the Rugby world cup 2007 as well. So, you can see the Italy has some experienced players in the squad who may lead Italy to something memorable in the history of Italian rugby.

I am giving the names of the squad members from the official website of rugby world cup below:

Forwards (17): Matias Aguero, Robert Barbieri, Mauro Bergamasco, Valerio Bernabo, Marco Bortolami (Captain), Martin Castrogiovanni, Carlo Antonio Del Fava, Santiago Dellape, Carlo Festuccia, Leonardo Ghiraldini, Andrea Lo Cicero, Fabio Ongaro, Sergio Parisse, Salvatore Perugini, Josh Sole, Manoa Vosawai, Alessandro Zanni.

Backs (13): Mirco Bergamasco, David Bortolussi, Gonzalo Canale, Pablo Canavosio, Roland de Marigny, Ezio Galon, Paul Griffen, Andrea Masi, Ramiro Pez, Matteo Pratichetti, Kaine Robertson, Marko Stanojevic, Alessandro Troncon.