Italy has awoken
Talk of changing the Six Nations is still in the air, but will the resurgence in the Blues’ form silence it, asks Simon Barnes
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- Simon Barnes
It was lovely to be back in Rome. I was there to cover a rugby match, but it felt like a true holiday, even more for the Scottish supporters in kilts and Jimmy wigs. The Scotland team must have shared the prevailing mood. After all, they were reigning Five Nations champions.
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It was 2000. Italy had just joined the great annual rugby tournament of Europe, turning the Five Nations Championship into Six. Rome was its gorgeous self, though no one there expected anything more than a pleasant day out. At the World Cup the previous year, Italy lost all three matches while conceding nearly 200 points.
On Saturday, we made our way to the Stadio Flaminio, a delightfully retro venue that held a modest 24,000 – and it became the stage for one of the great occasions. Italy won 34–20 as Diego Domínguez kicked 29 points, including a hat-trick of drop-goals. Every time a big team tells you they’re not underestimating the opposition, you know they’re lying.
However, it seems that every single year of the subsequent quarter-century, people have been trying to oust Italy from the tournament – a return to the Five Nations. Or pitched going the other way to expand the tournament to make it even better. Or rather, even more lucrative.
Italy haven’t always been their own best friends. Starting in 2015, they went on a 36-match losing run in the competition that only ended when they beat Wales in Cardiff in 2022. Last year they made great strides, beating Wales and Scotland and drawing with France. England beat them by a mere three points in an unexpected thriller. That match was played at the Stadio Olimpico in front of 57,000 fans. After a long, slow burn, Italians have started to support their own team.
But whispers of change continue. One idea is to bring in South Africa and make it the Seven Nations, or substitute them at Italy’s expense. There has been serious discussion of this possibility at the highest level, or so it’s been claimed, but so far nothing has materialised.
The stronger Italy become, the better it is for the Six Nations
It’s a move that would threaten other southern hemisphere teams, including the mighty New Zealand and Australia, who wouldn’t be pleased. It would also disturb the integrity of the European competition with its dangerous cross-currents of ancient sporting and national rivalries.
Perhaps the tournament should expand further, bringing in Georgia and Portugal. After all, the current structure makes it hard for teams to clamber up to the next level. But an Eight Nations tournament would mean 28 matches in total, seven for each team instead of five as it is now. There would be serious opposition from domestic clubs.
The Six Nations tournament remains free to air. In 2023, it was watched by 121 million people. Advertisers love every one of them because rugby followers traditionally come from wealthy backgrounds. There has been talk about aiming to boost the audience by holding all the matches on Saturdays in a staggered sequence.
But what the Six Nations and all good sporting tournaments need is jeopardy. For that you need parity of competition. Every match must be a serious test: no one-sided embarrassments. You make that possible by sharing, by helping your opponents to become better.
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In this way, you generate better sport; in turn more people will want to watch it, so you’re actually helping yourself. The stronger Italy become, the better it is for the Six Nations. Perhaps over the next 25 years they’ll contend for the top honours, regardless of who does or doesn’t join in.
Authors
Simon BarnesAuthor and journalist
Simon Barnes is a sports and wildlife writer, and is the author of a number of books including the recently published The Green Planet
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