Four scrum-halves for 2027 (and a ranking that could shift on Saturday)

There was a time, not so long ago, when Italian rugby was pleased to have four scrum-halves of broadly the same standard. In episode 40 of Divagazioni di Rugby, DanPat and Cristian Lovisetto tried to redraw that list and reached a different conclusion: two of them have pulled away.

Two ahead, two behind

The pair who, in the podcast’s reading, have opened a gap are the two playing in France and England, Martin Page-Relo and Stephen Varney. “Right now they’re at a slightly higher level,” Lovisetto observed, with the obvious caveat that a season is long and pecking orders change.

The more interesting comparison, though, involves the other two, Alessandro Garbisi and Alessandro Fusco, because the argument put forward on air is not technical but about squad composition. You go to a World Cup with a limited list, and on short lists versatility counts: Fusco, Lovisetto argues, is a player you can field on the wing if needed and, in an emergency, even at full-back. With Garbisi that conversation is not available.

The counter-argument arrived immediately, and it deserves to be on the record: in the last Six Nations Alessandro Garbisi started out uncapped in the squad list and ended up starting against England. “Memories are short,” DanPat recalled.

From there came a broader thought that reaches beyond the individual case: scrum-half is the most exposed position on the pitch and therefore the easiest target. It happened to Varney for two full years, before everyone agreed he was the best available; it happened to Fusco, who became something close to a meme; it happens regularly to Garbisi. And, the two predicted, a couple of poor starts will be enough for Page-Relo’s turn to come.

Benetton and the national side will talk

One passage bears directly on the club. According to DanPat, in a World Cup year it is reasonable to expect a conversation between Gonzalo Quesada and Wayne Pivac about guaranteeing Alessandro Garbisi a certain number of starts at Treviso; the same logic applies to Fusco at Zebre. That is a forecast, not news: neither club has announced anything of the sort.

The ranking that could move on Saturday

The final note is the one with the most immediate consequences, and it concerns a tournament played on the other side of the world. In the Pacific Nations Cup, Japan thrashed the United States 63-14 and Fiji beat Canada 45-29: the final takes place on Saturday 19 September at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium in Tokyo, with Fiji chasing a third consecutive title.

The point is that Italy are caught in the middle. In the world rankings as of 7 September, Fiji sit ninth on 78.00 points, Wales tenth on 76.38, Italy eleventh on 76.30 and Japan twelfth on 75.36: four sides inside three points. A wide Japanese win would bring them appreciably closer to the Azzurri; a wide Fijian win would pull the islanders away but leave Japan trailing.

The paradox, as DanPat put it, is that to stay where they are Italy need a one-sided final, in either direction. Both tipped Japan.

Read also: Italy’s road to 2027: November tests, Six Nations and World Cup pool