forum.rugby.it

Thursday 10 May 2012

RWC winner focused on Italian challenge
Craig Green will coach Italy at the 2012 JWC

By Cecilia Canazza

Craig Green was a member of the New Zealand squad who won the first Rugby World Cup on home soil in 1987, but is now head coach of the Italian Under 20 squad preparing to fly to South Africa for the IRB Junior World Championship next month.

Green’s relationship with Italy is not a novelty, the New Zealand wing landed in Italy shortly after lifting the Webb Ellis Cup and carried on adding to his list of rugby achievements and contributions.

“I have been in Italy on and off since 1987. I played in Italy for seven years, four at Benetton Treviso with whom I won a championship and was runner up three times before ending my playing career and starting as a coach in Casale sul Sile,” explained Green.

Well-respected and renowned in the Italian rugby community as ‘Toni’ Green, to overcome pronunciation barriers, the former All Black has settled into life in the country, admitting “my wife is Italian and both our girls were born in Italy and I have spent more time in Italy since winning the World Cup than New Zealand!”

As a coach Green has won four Italian Championships and has been involved with the Federazione Italiana Rugby (FIR) since 2010, taking over the Under 20s after they finished 11th on home soil in last year’s Junior World Championship.

His influence was clear to see in the Six Nations earlier this year when the Azzurrini proved they are capable of producing some good performances, but the lack of consistency and bit of bad luck still left them at the bottom of table.

They pushed Wales hard and losing to Scotland in the dying minutes of their final match left the young Italians with the dreaded wooden spoon, but Green maintained a positive attitude throughout the Championship and was pleased by what he was seeing.

Learning curve

“I think we performed well, we made mistakes but we’ll learn from them,” explained Green, who scored 11 tries in his 20 Tests for the All Blacks between 1983 and 1987.

“Having over half of the team made up by Under 19s makes a big difference and the lack of experience shows on the field, especially at the level this age group is at in Europe and the speed at which it’s developing, with more of the players appearing in the top leagues.

“The quality and speed of the game at this level is impressive and is always attracting more crowds. We managed to get the people in Italy excited about the games and the support we got was amazing and unexpected.”

The fact that a number of former Under 20 players shone for Italy in the Six Nations is also an important element for Green, proving there is a pathway to follow the likes of Tommaso Benvenuti and Giovanbattista Venditti to the Test stage.

Benvenuti and Venditti were Italy’s only try scorers in the Championship other than captain Sergio Parisse, Venditti’s second Test try against Scotland proving crucial as the Azzurri avoided the wooden spoon.

“Generally speaking Italian players, especially the young ones, always feel that other teams are better than them, and to see their opposition on TV playing for top clubs just adds to that impression.

“We need the young players to step up and prove things differently in order to move on.”

Countdown

With less than a month to go until JWC 2012, Italy are heading into their final phase of preparation with two training camps taking place before in May before the squad travel to South Africa determined to realise their goal.

“Our expectations are to stay in the elite group,” admitted Green, who will settle for a repeat of 2011 when Italy finished 11th after beating Tonga in the relegation play-off to avoid an immediate return to the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy.

“It is fundamental for the development of our players and the only way for them to keep improving and to be ready, one day, to play in Italian national side.”

Green knows there are still things for the Azzurrii to work on before they travel to Cape Town.

“We need to score tries to remain in the elite group, playing well won’t be enough. We must improve our tackling and we’ll concentrate mainly on the contact zone.”

Italy have a difficult task awaiting them, beginning their campaign against 2011 runners up England at the University of Western Cape Stadium on 4 June before tackling hosts South Africa four days later and Ireland on 12 June.

“We certainly expect the first games to be very hard, with all three teams wanting to end at the top of the group. We just have to do our best, and then who knows.”

Roma – Craig Green, responsabile tecnico della Nazionale Italiana U20, ha convocato ventotto giocatori per il Junior World Championship “Sudafrica 2012” in programma a Stellenbosch e Città del Capo dal 4 al 22 giugno.

Gli Azzurrini si raduneranno a Roma presso il Centro di Preparazione Olimpica “Giulio Onesti”, dal 27 al 30 maggio, giorno della partenza per il Sudafrica.

Nella prima fase della manifestazione, Maistri e compagni – inseriti nel Girone B – affronteranno l’Inghilterra a Cape Town il 4 giugno e sempre nella “città madre” sfideranno l’8 giugno i Baby-Boks padroni di casa per poi chiudere la fase a gironi al “Danie Craven” di Stellenbosch il 12 giugno contro l’Irlanda.

Questi i ventotto Azzurrini convocati per la rassegna iridata giovanile:

John APPERLEY (Rugby Reggio)

Marco BELLUCCI (Rugby Emergenti Cecina)*

Andrea BETTIN (Rubano Rugby)*

Giulio BISEGNI (Mantovani Lazio)

Tommaso BONI (Marchiol Mogliano)*

Leonardo BORTOLETTI (Rubano Rugby)

Guido CALABRESE (San Gregorio Catania)*

Michele CAMPAGNARO (Rugby Mirano)*

Pietro CECCARELLI (Stade Rochelais)

Federico CONFORTI (Petrarca Padova)*

Luca CONTI (Udine Rugby)*

Riccardo DELLA ROSSA (Udine Rugby)*

Matteo FERRO (Femi-CZ Vea Rovigo)

Filippo GUARDUCCI (Marchiol Mogliano)*

Giovanni MAISTRI (Cammi Calvisano)* - capitano

Alfio MAMMANA (L’Aquila Rugby)*

Vittorio MARAZZI (Rugby Sondrio)*

Alex MORSELLINO (Petrarca Padova)*

David ODIETE (Rugby Reggio)*

Edoardo PADOVANI (Marchiol Mogliano)*

Sami DRISSI-PANICO (UR Capitolina)*

Ruben RICCIOLI (Mantovani Lazio)

Jacopo SALVETTI (Rugby Sondrio)*

Leonardo SARTO (Petrarca Padova)*

Giovanni SCALVI (Rugby Reggio)

Luca SCARSINI (Udine Rugby)*

Marcello VIOLI (Rugby Noceto)*

Alessio ZDRILICH (Ospitaletto Rugby)*

*è/è stato membro dell’Accademia FIR “Ivan Francescato”

Ilgorgo ha scritto:A giudicare da questa pagina dell'Irb nessun incontro degli azzurri sarà visibile in Italia, neppure su Eurosport.
http://www.irb.com/jwc/tv/index.html

Sapete per caso se qualche tv in chiaro intende trasmettere qualche partita?

sticutzi ha scritto:

Ilgorgo ha scritto:A giudicare da questa pagina dell'Irb nessun incontro degli azzurri sarà visibile in Italia, neppure su Eurosport.
http://www.irb.com/jwc/tv/index.html

Sapete per caso se qualche tv in chiaro intende trasmettere qualche partita?

Pubblicate le partite trasmesse dalla rai:
http://www.irb.com/jwc/tv/index.html
Italy RAI
England v Italy 4 June 16.45
South Africa v Italy 8 June 18.45
Ireland v Italy 12 June 14.45
Semi final 17 June 17.00
Semi final 17 June 19.15
3rd place play off 22 June 16.30
Final 22 June 18.45

Ilgorgo ha scritto:

sticutzi ha scritto: Pubblicate le partite trasmesse dalla rai:
http://www.irb.com/jwc/tv/index.html
Italy RAI
England v Italy 4 June 16.45
South Africa v Italy 8 June 18.45
Ireland v Italy 12 June 14.45
Semi final 17 June 17.00
Semi final 17 June 19.15
3rd place play off 22 June 16.30
Final 22 June 18.45

La partita con l'Inghilterra compare sui programmi Rai alle 18.40. Speriamo sia un errore e che la diano in diretta: http://www.rai.it/dl/rai/guidaProgrammi.html

Questo il palinsesto di Rai Sport 2 per il Junior World Championship “Sudafrica 2012”:

4 giugno – ore 18.45 – differita Rai Sport 2

Inghilterra v Italia

9 giugno – ore 11.20 – differita Rai Sport 2

Sudafrica v Italia

12 giugno – ore 14.45 – diretta Rai Sport 2

Italia v Irlanda

18 giugno – ore 16.00 – differita Rai Sport 2

semifinale 1

18 giugno – ore 17.30 – differita Rai Sport 2

semifinale 2

18 giugno – ore 19.00 – differita Rai Sport 2

play-off Italia (se non classificata alle semifinali-titolo)

22 giugno – orario da confermare – diretta Rai Sport 2

play-off Italia (se diverso da Finale titolo)

22 giugno – ore 21.00 – differita Rai Sport 2

Finale Titolo

Tallonatore80 ha scritto:nessuno streaming in diretta quindi ?
oh cacchio che peccato

va beh...

nuovo slogan per la rete nazionale:

La Rai... non si smentisce mai...


Fa pure rima...

Live coverage

As Host Broadcaster of the IRB Junior World Championship 2012, SuperSport will be offering live online streaming of all 30 matches from the tournament, as well as highlights from each match.

Check out match kick off times at http://www.irb.com/jwc/fixturesresults/index.html (times are South African) and then go to http://www.supersport.com/live-video to see your match live.

This video content will be freely available worldwide, apart from in France, Ireland and the UK where the action is exclusively shown by broadcasters. You can see where JWC is available around the world here: http://www.irb.com/jwc/tv/index.html

Match highlights (available worldwide)

Available shortly after each match, on this page. Select from a video below.

Other video

See the performance of each match day and the latest JWC video features with players and teams on this page.