Fantasy Six Nations 2020 Preview – Italy

Fantasy Rugby Geekon

With Saturday 1st February 2020 fast approaching, it’s time to delve a bit deeper into this year’s potential fantasy Six Nations stars. So over the next two weeks FRG is providing a quick preview of all the teams from a fantasy perspective. Today we look at Italy…

Italy

In a nutshell

Sadly Italy remain the perennial whipping boys of the Six Nations, and this seems to be a trend that shows no sign of stopping. Since joining the Six Nations in 2000, the best they have managed to do is to reach 4th place twice in 2007 and 2013, and they have been priced by the bookies at 500/1 this year. It seems that The Italian Job is Mission Impossible (sorry. I’ll get my coat…). Ultimately, it is hard to see where a win will come for them this year, with their best bet probably being at home to Scotland in Round 3.
 
They enjoyed success against Canada and Namibia in the Rugby World Cup (although these wins were expected) and are now under the interim leadership of Franco Smith following the recent departure of Conor O’Shea. This will also be their first Six Nations in many years without their talismanic Number 8, the legendary Sergio Parisse (although it has been mooted that he may return for some final appearances). The odds are stacked against them.
 
It is not all doom and gloom however, they have an exceptional talent in the back row in the shape of Jake Polledri, and in Tommaso Allan they have a fly half who looks truly comfortable on the world stage and someone they can build a team around for many years to come.

Current World Ranking

12th (As of the 2nd December 2019)

Performance in the 2019 Six Nations

6th

Odds on winning Six Nations 2020

500/1 (Rank Outsiders)

Six Nations History (Since start of Six Nations in 2000)

4th place x 2 (2007 and 2013)

Most likely to make a fantasy impact

Tommaso Allan (Fly Half – Benetton)

Key players to consider

Braam Steyn (Loose Forward – Benetton), Jake Polledri (Loose Forward – Gloucester), Tommaso Allan (Fly Half – Benetton), Matteo Minozzi (Outside Back – Wasps), Edoardo Padovani (Outside Back – Zebre)

Top Performers in 2019 Six Nations

  • Most Points: Tommaso Allan (34 points)
  • Most Tries: Edoardo Padovani (3 tries)
  • Most Assists: Tommaso Allan (3 assists)
  • Successful Kicks: Tommaso Allan (11 successful kicks)
  • Most Metres Carried: Jayden Hayward (373m carried)
  • Most Defenders Beaten: Jayden Hayward (16 defenders beaten)
  • Most Clean Breaks: Edoardo Padovani (6 clean breaks)
  • Most offloads: Jayden Hayward (6 offloads)
  • Most Successful tackles: Leonardo Ghiraldini (71 tackles made)
  • Most Turnovers won: Braam Steyn (4 turnovers won)
  • Most successful lineout takes (and stolen lineouts): Federico Ruzza (17 lineouts won and 1 stolen lineout)
  • Players who played every minute of 2019 Campaign: Jayden Hayward

Full squad

Forwards

Pietro Ceccarelli (Edinburgh/SCO), Danilo Fischetti (Zebre), Andrea Lovotti (Zebre), Marco Riccioni (Benetton), Giosue Zilocchi (Zebre), Luca Bigi (Zebre), Oliviero Fabiani (Zebre), Federico Zani (Benetton), Dean Budd (Benetton), Niccolo Cannone (Argos Petrarca Rugby/Benetton), Federico Ruzza (Benetton), David Sisi (Zebre), Alessandro Zanni (Benetton), Marco Lazzaroni (Benetton), Giovanni Licata (Zebre), Johan Meyer (Zebre), Sebastian Negri (Benetton), Jake Polledri (Gloucester/ENG), Braam Steyn (Benetton)

Backs

Callum Braley (Gloucester/ENG), Guglielmo Palazzani (Zebre), Marcello Violi (Zebre), Tommaso Allan (Benetton), Carlo Canna (Zebre), Giulio Bisegni (Zebre), Tommaso Boni (Zebre), Luca Morisi (Benetton), Alberto Sgarbi (Benetton), Mattia Bellini (Zebre), Tommaso Benvenuti (Benetton), Michelangelo Biondelli (Fiamme Oro Rugby/Zebre), Jayden Hayward (Benetton), Matteo Minozzi (Wasps/ENG), Edoardo Padovani (Zebre), Leonardo Sarto (Benetton)

Likely Kickers

Successful kicks from Italy kickers since September 1st 2018…

Kits

 

Italy’s kit can be purchased here at Lovell Rugby (*Full disclosure, this is an affiliate link, so FRG will earn a small commission if kits are purchased through this link)

Full list of Matches

  • Round 1 – Saturday February 1st, 2:15pm GMT – Wales v Italy – Principality Stadium
  • Round 2 – Sunday February 9th, 3pm GMT – France v Italy – Stade De France
  • Round 3 – Saturday February 22nd, 3pm GMT – Italy v Scotland – Stadio Olimpico
  • Round 4 – Saturday March 7th, 2:15pm GMT – Ireland v Italy – Aviva Stadium
  • Round 5 – Saturday March 14th, 4:45pm GMT – Italy v England – Stadio Olimpico

 

If you back your Fantasy Rugby skills to lead you to Fantasy Six Nations glory and win you some stash while you are at it, then join our public fantasy league on The Rugby Magazine fantasy game, where a signed paperback copy of the Fantasy Rugby Handbook and a Fantasy Rugby Geek Trucker Hat, will be on offer for the winner of the league. Join it here!

Other Fantasy Rugby Games for the 2020 Six Nations

A summary of the top games that you can play fantasy rugby for the 2020 Six Nations (some of these are currently unconfirmed so may not have 6 Nations games live)…

  • The Rugby Magazine – Stats rich salary cap style game – Check out our 2020 review here
  • PlayOn – Daily Fantasy for Rugby – Sign up today here to receive a free $22 entry with a first-time deposit – Check out our 2020 review here
  • ESPN – A classic and straightforward Six Nations fantasy game – Check out our 2020 review here
  • SuperBru – An old favourite with salary cap fantasy rugby among other games and sports – Check out our 2020 review here
  • The Irish Times – Salary cap game with a €3000 top prize – Check out our 2020 review here

Pre-tournament articles

In case you missed any of our other pre-Six Nations articles, make sure you check out the following to help guide your pre-tournament preparations…

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The Rugby Show is a two-day gathering at the Ricoh Arena, home of Wasps, in July 2020. The Rugby Show already has a fantastic range of phenomenal speakers from across the professional game. The likes of Lawrence Dallaglio, Maggie Alphonsi, current England World Cup duo, Joe Marler and George Kruis and World Cup winner Sarah Hunter will be talking about their own experiences, about coping with injury, maintaining fitness, nutrition, providing demonstrations on how to improve your skills as a player and more. The line-up also includes recent MMA convert James Haskell, Premiership regulars Jimmy Gopperth and Tommy Taylor to name a few. Registration has now gone live and as an ambassador of the Rugby Show, Fantasy Rugby Geek is offering you FREE ENTRY to the event (which usually costs £15 for an adult ticket). Click this link https://the-rugby-show-2020.reg.buzz/fantasy-rugby-geek and enter the following code TRS20GRASSROOTS to book your FREE tickets now!

Looking for more Fantasy Rugby insight and Resources?

New for the 2019/20 season, we are proud to present the The Fantasy Rugby Handbook. An exhaustive collection of wisdom and experience gained from over a decade of fantasy rugby playing. Primarily aimed at less experienced players but with enough nuggets of wisdom and insight for even the most grizzled fantasy rugby veteran. There is something here for all players. The eBook is available to download now for just £3.99 on Gumroad as a PDF and on Amazon in Kindle format (Free on Kindle Unlimited) – check it out!

If you want some more sources to help you finalise your decisions, go to our resources page where you’ll find all the 2020 Six Nations fantasy games, all the stats sources, injury news, team news, fantasy relevant rugby betting odds and tons of other useful information.

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