Italy’s introduction to the then Five Nations in 2000 excited many, extending the length of the tournament and possibly throwing a wildcard into the mix. However, in the 16 Six Nations Championships competed in by Italy, they achieved the not so glorious accolade of the most wooden spoons, with a grand total of 11 to their name. They are the whipping boys of the tournament and go into the majority of games expecting to get beaten. They lost every game this time round and for the first time in the history of the tournament, were crowned the ‘winners’ of the Wooden Spoon before the final day of the tournament. It is due to theses facts and more that I believe it is time for Italy to be replaced in the Six Nations.
Italy’s performance in the recent World Cup was relatively average, two bonus point victories saw them secure qualification for the 2019 tournament, however, didn’t allow them to progress any further than the group stage. They achieved the same total as England, however, I take the same view as Liverpool fans do about Brendan Rodger’s when stating Lancaster’s result: ‘It was a Lancaster game, it doesn’t count’. They exceeded the points totals of European rivals Georgia and Romania, having defeated Romania themselves, and Georgia did not manage to pick up the bonus points that the Italians did.
In spite of this, the world rankings do not lie. Georgia sit two places and 2.84 ranking points higher than the Italians and have yet again bossed the ‘Six Nations B’, picking up their eight Championship. They have some impressive potential, and a move to the big time could help the countries Rugby set up beyond belief. Italy has a solid domestic Rugby set-up, with two teams in the Pro12, albeit not particularly incredible ones.
Many say that Italy dropping out of the Six Nations would kill Italian Rugby. I disagree entirely. Italian Rugby has produced many high-class players over the years, and with a strong domestic setup in place, they could still thrive domestically. It would also allow players to have more competition. In the Six Nations, they may play against some of the World’s best, however, most of the time they are watching them zoom past to score yet another try. If Italy were placed in the European Nations Cup they would face teams on the same level as them, and it would allow for much better international development and, for once, some actual competition for the Italians.
Another idea that has been suggested has been the introduction of promotion and relegation for the team in last place in the Six Nations and the winner of the ENC. I have two issue with this idea, the first being that should someone like Scotland have a stinker of a tournament as they did in 2015, we could see a huge side drop out of the Six Nations, which wouldn’t be good for all parties involved. My second issue is that we could end up with yo-yo teams, a side too good for the ENC, but not quite at Six Nations standard yet. This would prevent teams being able to become knowledgeable about their opponents, and two team competitions such as the Calcutta Cup and Centenary Quaich would end up losing their value.
So, all in all, if we move Italy down and move Georgia up we might finally have a Six Nations as oppose to a Five Nations and that team everyone batters.
