Italy were never going to beat the Red Roses, but that’s not the point

The big question when it comes to the Women’s Six Nations is ‘can any team stop England?’. Nobody expected Italy to be the team to halt the Red Roses’ inevitable charge to yet another Grand Slam title, but there would have been a hope that Le Azzurre would give the world champions a game in the Parma sunshine on Saturday afternoon.

The narrative surrounding the tournament is often concerning the competitiveness of games involving England and how dominant they are compared to the rest. It is, of course, not their fault they are so far superior and they deserve all the credit they get for what they do both on and off the pitch in striving to be the very best.

So if it was competition the watching public wanted, competition is certainly what they got as Italy recorded the most points (33) they have ever scored against the Red Roses, including five tries, another feat they haven’t managed before.

Italy’s men wrote history in March when they beat England for the first time. While a repeat of that was never on the cards here, that famous win would have put fire in the belly of Fabio Roselli’s charges in the build up.

That optimism was dented early on as the visitors notched up the bonus-point score by the 14th minute and had 40 points by the half-time whistle. The gulf in class was obvious and, even for those England fans in attendance, there was a fear that the game would deteriorate into a farce.

But, to Italy’s credit, they didn’t roll over and they looked dangerous going forward and, much like their male counterparts, their attacking shape and fluidity was smooth and three tries in the opening 40 minutes was just-reward for their endeavours. Given the difference in power and size, the Italians fronted up physically and two of those scores came through the pack, including a wonderful score from flanker Alissa Ranuccini after a sneaky break from prop Silvia Turani.

The innovative nature of Italy’s tries should help to boost the numbers of people watching from home and in the stands. Despite what is still a heavy defeat, many would have expected a far greater margin of victory, and rightly so.

The fact Italy are even able to compete against this English juggernaut is a miracle. Only two play in semi-professional leagues; with prop Turani (Harlequins) and winger Francesca Granzotto (Exeter Chiefs) plying their trade in England’s Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR), while the rest play in predominantly amateur competitions in Italy and France, combined with their day jobs away from the sport.

In comparison, the English players are fully professional and all play in the PWR, which is considered the best league in the world. The funding from the RFU compared to that of the Italian Federation does not compare but that is hardly a surprise given rugby is a long way down the pecking order when it comes to sport in the country.

Rugby will always come second fiddle to the likes of football, basketball, skiing, swimming, and others. It is a growing sport in Italy. Even in the men’s game, they only have two professional clubs in Benetton and Zebre and the Italian Serie A Elite (the top domestic competition) is only semi-professional.

So when you put that all into perspective, for Italy to do what they did out in Parma was quite an extraordinary feat. The scenes at full-time in front of another healthy home crowd will do a huge amount for the Italian women who go into the final round of the competition with the chance of a best-ever finish.

Le Azzurre’s goal each year in the Six Nations is to finish “best of the rest” behind France and England and despite heavy defeats to the French and Ireland in the opening two rounds, a win against Scotland, followed by this very credible result, puts them in a strong position to achieve that top three spot.

They have Wales to play in the final round of games and a big win could see them pip Ireland to the podium finish they so crave. If you put that together with what the men’s side are trying to do, rugby in Italy can continue to grow and there is no reason why the women’s side cannot continue to close that monumental gap with England.