ITALY'S 2024 | END OF YEAR REPORT CARD

[@pietrogabrieletozzi]

Hi Tim, Italian here. Consistency has always been our problem, we win a match and we think we're the best and then get panned the next match. It works the other way as well, I was at the Aviva for that 36-0 defeat and I couldn't believe my eyes two weeks later against France. 9 unfortunately is the problem position, with no one really good enough to make the jersey his own. Also on Zebre, I read that they're only relocating the team (from Parma to Padova probably) rather than getting rid of it. Loved the video as usual!

[@donalnotdonald]

If that kick against France went over Italy could have been bothering the 9's but as is, especially considering the second half of the year, 7.5 is a fair score and I would say one that was not expected at the start of the '24 6 nations. Hopefully they can push on and develop as it might finally put to bed the argument that they don't deserve a place at the top table of the 6 nations. As always, top tier content mate!

[@XxzXFearXzxX]

We've had a good year but we can easily let our heads slip, whether that's against a top class team, or a tier 2 nation we need to keep our eyes on the prize and work towards being better than ourselves year on year.

[@MattFyvie]

Hi Tim. Thank you as always for your analysis and rugby news updates. Just want to know if you are going to do report cards for Georgia and Japan. You said you would do the top 12 nations previously as well as the Georgians "in a later video". If so, please don't forget. If not, please do them both if possible. Would both be fascinating. Perhaps even a tier 2 nations deep dive in the new year. Next year is when qualification opportunities for the 24 teams for 2027 RWC will take place for those nations. Will be interesting who you predict will qualify too.

[@MattFyvie]

Another question Tim. How do you guage your score out of 10? On what their top/bottom of the rankings have been in other years for example?

[@designmanagementconsultanc4143]

Will be great to see them playing in South Africa

[@MattFyvie]

Italy got to 8th this year briefly. They were also 8th in 2007 apparently.

[@AjaySalmon]

Progresso

[@GSBWorkingDogs-Rugby]

Although they got smashed by Argentina they actually didn’t play badly, Argentina were just perfectly clinical. Every mistake Italy made Argentina punished, but Argentina also played like they did when they beat NZ & SA in attack and everything stuck. Possibly the best performance by a losing team that got absolutely demolished on the scoreboard I’ve seen

[@seanofarrell8896]

Remember, some of the italy players are still in france. You read half the story, and they said they would put a new franchise that have a similar function to benatton

[@HarryNye]

Yes Tim! The Italian was perf...great! 😉

[@imladrik3538]

Italy was 8th after the Six Nations, just as they were in 2007 when they also had their previous best effort in the 6 nations (finish 4th with two wins). That year they could have placed 2nd in their RWC pool, but lost by two points against Scotland while missing 3 (!) penalties, they ended the year 11th. 10th is their best ranking at the end of the year IIRC.

[@diarmuidquirke4604]

They had a great start anyway

[@TrinityTommy]

We have a lot of good players considering the overall number of players is much lower than other tier1s. So the biggest long-term result will be increased popularity, membership and therefore the national team roster. In short Terms, today we have the quality but we can't have the consistency of the other teams (we should continue to wear out the players we have)

[@rory7590]

Italy have certainly improved their defensive game and this is their core strength. However, they don’t yet have the strength in depth to be able to rotate their squad or cope with injuries to significant players. I think this is why their results and performances can still be erratic. They got some good scalps in this year though and raised their world ranking status accordingly. Their performance against NZ showed a high turnaround to how they coped in the 2023 WC. It is difficult to rank teams based purely on win ratios (3 wins and a draw out of 8) when all but one of their matches were against higher internationally ranked teams. But beating Scotland and Wales, drawing with France, losing to England by 3 and the performance against NZ would give them a score of about 8 for me.

[@trev-ou4gu]

Connor o Shea and others got the ball rolling and state that what they had planned wouldn't be straight away but gradually and you can see that now fareplay Italy

[@clementbatut4053]

I don't remember his name but italy's u20 tighthead prop was very impressive, if he can confirm his potential it could make quite a changé in the italian scrum

[@robertwood6297]

8/10

[@robcrocker348]

I reckon Italy have earned a well earned 7.5/10

[@phronimos14]

Italys rise makes Wales fall all the more bitter.

[@OlgaRadioGaGa]

A 7,5/10 with only 50% overall performance (and you thought to give them even a higher score) while France is 7/10 with 73% (and I agree with this french score). Certainly there is some optimism for their performance in 2025, but there are for France as well. I just don’t understand the calculus 🤷🏼‍♀️

[@MattFyvie]

Also asking about the considerations for the score.

[@edconway8599]

The expectations for every team are different. And every team has different squads and resources Italy don’t have the players that France had and almost beat them

[@OlgaRadioGaGa]

@@edconway8599 but it doesn’t come down to just one match. A lot of french premium players were absent throughout this season. Youngsters won in Argentina 2/3 matches (without the outside of sports horrible affairs I think they would have won all of the matches).

[@thephantomstranger4073]

I might think it is a 7.5 relative the hole they were in after the World Cup

[@OlgaRadioGaGa]

Relatively speaking France was in a really really bad place after WCR23, and still managed to win 3/5 and to draw Italy, without some premium players.