Italy great Martin Castrogiovanni has fired England a scrum warning ahead of Sunday’s Six Nations clash at Twickenham.
The Azzurri’s resurgent young charges ran defending champions France right to the wire in Rome on Sunday, eventually losing out 29-24.
Kieran Crowley’s Italy are certainly on the up, with 119-cap former prop Castrogiovanni tipping the Azzurri to peak in time for the 2027 World Cup.
In the meantime though, former Leicester powerhouse Castrogiovanni has backed Italy’s fast-improving set-piece to give England problems this weekend. Castrogiovanni hailed London Irish loosehead Danilo Fischetti for bolstering the Italy set-piece, at a time when England freely admit their scrum needs major work to restore its traditional power.
“Italy’s scrum is definitely back to being one of the main weapons, and a very strong element,” Castrogiovanni told Lawrence Dallaglio’s Evening Standard Rugby Podcast.
“Danilo Fischetti is one of the best props in the Six Nations. And Simone Ferrari is very solid again on the other side. But beyond that there are options on the bench to change things. We never really had that before, and it’s making a big difference.
“The scrum is a key point for the Italian team and they will try to cause problems that way this weekend. It’s a good time for this Italian team.”
Flamboyant front-rower Castrogiovanni excelled at Calvisano, Leicester, Toulon and Racing 92 in a 15-year career from 2001 to 2016, before retirement has seen the 41-year-old launch a successful television career.
Castrogiovanni talked of his friendship with footballing great Zlatan Ibrahimovic, his burgeoning TV roles and his enduring fondness for Leicester, rating his Tigers stint the most memorable of his career. The long-haired prop still owns an Italian restaurant in the city but joked “I ate and drank the profits!” during his seven-year stint in the East Midlands.
Backing Italy to host a future Rugby World Cup, Castrogiovanni insisted head coach Crowley’s developing side now boast all the credentials to challenge the sport’s top Test teams once they hit their peak.
“This group of players, if you think of the year they’ve had, I don’t think this World Cup will be their World Cup,” said Castrogiovanni. “I think it’s still two World Cups we need to see these guys, because they want to have a lot of experience.
“I think they are playing proper good rugby, they try to win the game, they are not only defending, defending, like we used to do. They’re attacking, they try to win the game every time, and I’m so happy Italy play like that.”
