THE SCOTSMAN REPORTS
Ex-Capital duo enjoy pro rugby's answer to Dolce Vita
COLIN RENTON

FORMER Capital club players Calvin Howarth and Iain Monaghan have wasted no time in making their presence felt after moving to the Italian club Arix Viadana during the summer.

New Zealand-born Howarth signed for Boroughmuir in 1998 and helped the Meggetland men to BT Cup glory in 1998 before signing professional terms with Edinburgh Gunners and subsequently moving on to Glasgow Warriors in 2002.

The 30-year-old was lured to the highly-competitive Italian Super 10 this year by Viadana coach Jim Love - a Kiwi who was formerly in charge of the Tongan national side - and, after a good pre-season has been a solid performer at stand off in his side's first two matches.

Howarth's first competitive game in Viadana colours pitted him against another former Glasgow player Barry Irving, now plying his trade with the Sicilian outfit Amatori Catania, who also have the former Currie centre Aaron Cowie in their ranks.

Howarth, who has represented the Scottish Students and Scotland A sides, took the bragging rights with 13 of his side's points in the 52-12 win.

He followed that up with a match-winning contribution of 14 points as Viadana posted a win away to Overmach Parma in last Saturday's Po derby. That result leaves Howarth and his colleagues in second place in the league table, a point behind leaders Calvisano going into Sunday's match against Almaviva Capitalino at the Stadio Flaminio in Rome.

For Monaghan, below, the move to Italy has been even more of an adventure. The former Currie scrum half switched to Glasgow Hawks in 2003 after taking up a position as SRU Development Officer in East Renfrewshire and became a key part of their BT Premiership-winning side.

While playing Italy is a path that has been well trodden by Scots over recent years, Monaghan has also taken on an ambitious role as Viadana's youth academy coach. The 25-year-old Edinburgh University graduate in Applied Sports Science is impressed by the style of rugby being played by Viadana and particularly by the Stadio Luigi Zaffanella club's youth policy.

His top team playing activity has been limited by his other duties but Monaghan relishes the opportunity to help produce the future stars of Italian rugby. He said: "My job is to work with young players during the development phase. The club has embraced a new style of rugby based on the New Zealand model and we are looking to play a style similar to that of the Super 14.

"My own view is that playing with vision and directness is the way to develop the game. I think that rugby is really a simple game that we make very difficult. The new philosophy adopted by Viadana shows the ambition of the club to make a leap in quality and play a modern style of rugby."

Monaghan has embraced the challenge of working in a foreign country and learning a new language. He said: "Rugby is a global game so I don't really see these things as great barriers. I have travelled a lot and played under a lot of great coaches. Immersing myself in the Italian culture and learning the language is stimulating and it's just great being involved in professional rugby."

This article was posted on 21-Sep-2006, 12:40 by Hugh Barrow.