Italians pick Magners League bases

Franchises based in Rome and the northern town of Viadana have been chosen by Italy's rugby federation (FIR) to play in the Magners League in 2010 when the competition is scheduled to open to Italian teams.
The FIR said in a statement on Saturday that it would recommend the Praetorians formation put together by Rugby Roma, Capitolina and Lazio to the Magners League board pending further checks.

It has given a provisional green light to the Aironi (Herons) bid led by 2002 champions Viadana of Lombardy, although at least some games will be played in the neighbouring region of Emilia Romagna at Reggio Emilia.

The FIR hopes having representatives in the Welsh, Scottish and Irish league will boost standards after national coach Nick Mallett partly blamed the poor quality of domestic rugby when Italy lost all five of their Six Nations games this year.

The Magners League has said two Italian teams will be admitted in the 2010/11 season if conditions are met regarding the viability of the franchises, television rights and the stadium standards.

The decision to give the nod to an outfit from Rome, where Italy play their Six Nations matches, could cause controversy as the heartland of Italian rugby is in the north and domestic champions Treviso and a north-western bid both missed out.

The franchises will be given financial support from the FIR to recruit national team players currently playing abroad and upcoming Italian talent.

The formation of the Magners League franchises is causing upheaval for Italy's domestic rugby.

Twice champions Calvisano last month asked to drop out of next season's top flight, the Super 10, after a bid to set up a Magners League team failed because of financial problems.

Roman club Capitolina have also given up their Super 10 place in view of their participation in the Praetorians franchise.

This article was posted on 19-Jul-2009, 19:51 by Hugh Barrow.