The Italy national rugby team has set up training camp in L'Aquila, the capital of the Abruzzo region, as it prepares for a grueling July tour across the Southern Hemisphere. The move represents the third consecutive summer the squad has trained in the city, cementing a partnership between the Italian Rugby Federation (FIR) and the Abruzzo regional government that runs through 2026.
On Monday, June 22, residents and rugby fans will have a rare chance to watch the 33-man squad train for free at Stadio Tommaso Fattori, with gates opening at 10:30 AM. Head coach Gonzalo Quesada arrived in the city on Thursday evening alongside his coaching staff—including Sergio Parisse, the recently inducted World Rugby Hall of Famer and former Italy captain whose father won a championship with L'Aquila in 1967. After the session, captain Michele Lamaro and teammates will be available for autographs and photos.
Why This Tour Matters
The training camp feeds directly into the inaugural Nations Championship, a new biennial tournament launched in 2026 that divides 12 teams into Northern and Southern Hemisphere pools. Italy competes in the Northern pool but must travel south in July for a three-match road swing that will test squad depth, logistics, and resilience:
• Japan vs. Italy – July 4 at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo (10:40 AM Italian time)
• New Zealand vs. Italy – July 11 at Wellington Regional Stadium (7:10 AM Italian time)
• Australia vs. Italy – July 18 at Perth Rectangular Stadium (12:10 PM Italian time)
All fixtures will air live on Sky Sport.
The Challenge Ahead
Italy's record against these opponents is a study in contrasts. The Azzurri hold an 8-2 lifetime advantage over Japan, including a 42-14 win in 2024, but Japanese rugby has grown exponentially in recent years, and home-field advantage in Tokyo will narrow the gap. Against the All Blacks, Italy has never won in 17 official meetings, and Wellington in mid-winter promises freezing conditions and a physically dominant New Zealand side hungry to assert dominance in the new championship format.
The Wallabies, however, are a different story. Italy shocked Australia 28-27 in Florence in November 2022 and followed up with a 26-19 victory in Udine in November 2025, proving the gap between tier-one and tier-two nations is shrinking. Australia coach Joe Schmidt has publicly vowed to field a deeper, more experienced roster for the Perth encounter, setting up a grudge match with genuine stakes.
Quesada has flagged the logistical gauntlet as a concern: the squad will fly from Rome to Tokyo, endure the humid Japanese summer, then shift to the depths of a New Zealand winter in Wellington before finishing in the temperate but isolated city of Perth. Jet lag, climate swings, and a compressed schedule will test conditioning as much as tactics.
L'Aquila's Rugby DNA
The choice of L'Aquila as a training base is no accident. The city has been entwined with rugby since 1936, when the Società Amatoriale L'Aquila Rugby was founded by officer Guglielmo Zoffoli and local legend Tommaso Fattori, whose name now graces the municipal stadium. The old L'Aquila Rugby Club—dissolved in 2018 after financial troubles—claimed 5 national titles and 2 Italian Cups between the 1960s and 1994, supplying Italy with stars like Andrea Masi and Carlo Festuccia.
Parisse's father, Sergio senior, won the 1967 Italian championship with L'Aquila, and the younger Parisse—now 43 and a coaching adviser—remains the face of Italian rugby: 142 caps, two-time IRB Player of the Year nominee, and in 2024 the first Italian inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame. His presence in L'Aquila this week bridges generations and reinforces the city's symbolic weight in the sport.
After the devastating 2009 earthquake, rugby became a symbol of resilience. The first sporting event held in the city post-quake was a rugby match, and the IRB awarded L'Aquila Rugby the Spirit of Rugby prize for civic courage. Today, organizations like Rugby Experience L'Aquila carry the torch, while the Fattori stadium has undergone extensive renovation funded by municipal and regional budgets.
What the Partnership Delivers
The three-year FIR-Regione Abruzzo agreement, signed in 2024, funnels investment into facilities and youth development. L'Aquila now hosts national under-16 development camps, one of five hubs in Italy backed by Vittoria Assicurazioni, and summer FIRCamps that bring young players from across the country for coaching clinics. The city also stages fixtures for Italy's junior men's and women's squads, turning the Fattori into a year-round international venue.
Marco Molina, president of FIR Abruzzo, emphasized the cultural and social embeddedness of rugby in the region, noting that the sport fosters family engagement and community cohesion. Mayor Pierluigi Biondi pointed to ongoing infrastructure upgrades—including a €2 M covered grandstand at the rugby pitch in Paganica and a synthetic-turf field completed in 2015 at Piazza d'Armi—as proof of the city's commitment to reclaiming its status as a rugby hub in central and southern Italy.
Impact on Residents and Fans
For locals, Monday's open session offers a no-cost chance to see elite athletes in a relaxed setting, with children from the FIRCamps joining the crowd. The event doubles as a tourism showcase: national media coverage and the presence of household names like Parisse put L'Aquila on the map for rugby tourists planning visits around future international fixtures.
The partnership also has economic ripple effects. Hotel bookings, restaurant traffic, and retail spend spike during team camps, and the municipality reports increased interest from sponsors and sports-travel agencies. Beyond the balance sheet, the visibility reinforces civic pride in a city still rebuilding its identity after the earthquake.
Broader Context: Italy's Rugby Evolution
Italy's inclusion in the Six Nations since 2000 has driven professionalization, but the Nations Championship raises the bar again. Points earned in July count toward overall standings, and relegation remains a theoretical risk if Italy finishes at the bottom of its pool over the two-year cycle. Recent victories over Australia and competitive showings against France and England suggest the Azzurri are closing the gap, but the Southern Hemisphere tour will reveal whether that progress holds under the most demanding conditions.
The squad's Abruzzo stint follows earlier June camps in Parma (June 4-5) and Treviso (June 11-12), a deliberate strategy to build cohesion before the team departs for Tokyo. Quesada, a former Argentina international who took over as Italy coach in 2024, has prioritized squad rotation and tactical flexibility, mindful that injuries and club commitments have sidelined key players like flyer Ange Capuozzo and hooker Giacomo Nicotera.
Monday's session will offer a window into Quesada's approach: whether he leans on veteran leadership or bloods younger talents ahead of fixtures where Italy will be heavy underdogs in two of three matches. For the home crowd, the chance to watch Parisse mentor the next generation—and to cheer a team that now routinely competes with rugby's aristocracy—marks a full-circle moment for a city that refused to let tragedy erase its sporting soul.
