Italy Rugby Shirts

Contrary to popular belief that the French brought rugby to Italy, Rugby Union was in fact first introduced to Italy by the English between 1890 and 1895 and enjoys stronger support in the North of Italy than the rest of the country. Despite the interruption of World War Two to Italy’s Rugby Union development, the Allied troops actually served to help the game develop but it wasn’t until the 1970s and 80s that the game really developed in Italy thanks to a surge in foreign players and coaches, who also served the national team. These decades saw tours of South Africa, England and Scotland, as well as high profile games against Australia and New Zealand.

The development of the game and the playing of such high profile matches caused the drive for Italy’s addition to the Five Nations to gather pace. The support for them to join the competition grew throughout the 1990s and in 1996 they were almost entered into the competition at the expense of the England Rugby Union team due to a disagreement over TV rights. However, it took until 2000 for Italy to be admitted to the expanded Six Nations competition but unfortunately this happened at the same time as their best players left the squad. As expected, Italy have struggled to compete in this competition and in both the 2001 and 2002 competitions, they didn’t win a single game resulting in many nations calling Italy’s participation into question.

Where to buy Italy Rugby shirts and gear?

		Store Name	Shipping	Range	Our Rating
		www.kitbag.co.uk	UK & Europe	Clothes		View Prices
		www.lovellrugby.co.uk	UK & Europe	Full Range		View Prices

Team Jersey:

The Italian National Rugby Union team play in light blue jerseys which has two prominent logos: the logo of Kappa and the logo of the Italian Rugby Football Union. While the kit itself is made by Kappa and therefore has their logo, as of 2007 the official team strip sponsor is the Italian bank Cariparma & Piacenza. The current Jersey design is inspired by the 1960s and 70s.

Team Record:

Italy have had mixed success over the years, having played 318 games, winning 47.17% and loosing 49.69%. Despite competing in every Six Nations Championship since their inclusion in 2000, they have yet to win it and have only ever managed to win two games in any one tournament, resulting in their highest finish of fourth in the 2007 tournament. In recognition of the importance of the French influence on the Italian game, the winner of the Italy France game is awarded the Guiseppe Garibaldi Trophy, which unsurprisingly Italy have never won.

Italy have competed in every World Cup since it began in 1987 but have had a torrid time, not being able to qualify for the finals on the majority of occasions. In 2007 they had their best chance yet of qualifying for the finals of the competition, but poor discipline during crucial games saw this chance fall through their fingers.