Italy wants third pro 12 team in Rome

[iINDOMINUSxx]

I know this is an old article but thought i should post about it: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/italians-want-third-team-pro12-11329304

And i completely disagree with this, as much as i want Italy to improve they're game a third pro 12 side for them is definitely not the best way to improve considering they current 2 pro 12 teams have been at the bottom of the table for 3 years in a row.

What do you guys think ?

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Scotland should have a 3rd team before Italy.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Scotland should have a 3rd team before Italy.

Sadly the SRU are all but bankrupt and there is no obvious logical location for a third team. Maybe in five years if the bank balance is healthier, crowds in Glasgow and Edinburgh have grown (which does seem likely if Edinburgh sort out a stadium) and the SRU have hosted a few internationals in say our third city Aberdeen to test interest (totally hypothetical).

As for Italy, they've barely enough player depth to make a single competitive club, never mind a third. They've just lost international centre Garcia to a 4th division French club! BUT Rome would be a massive potential market having a population comparable with the whole of Wales. This is important given the Irish RU aiming for big increases in TV contracts. Rome is also pretty much a distinct territory from the north where Zebre and Treviso are based and would expand club rugby into central and southern Italy which is arguably "good for the game".

If Treviso or Zebre falter off the field then replacing them with Roma might be an option but really the Italian RU and O'Shea have to get their house in order and run their existing Pro 12 clubs competently before any consideration is given to a third team. It's a difficult time to support Italian rugby at the moment after the optimism of a few years back when Treviso broke into the mid table. Desperately clinging to hope that with Tomasso Allan and Canna as their 10s, both clubs might progress. But I think I'm kidding myself.

 

[welshglory]

One of the problems is that Italy and Scotland don't have many pro contracts available, so they are limiting themselves in their depth pool by quite a lot. Of course there is the possibility of playing in foreign clubs but that doesn't usually happen until you've finished school or if you happen to based there. The development competitions in Italy and Scotland aren't that great compared to the rest of the 6 nations either so unless they're involved with the academy system of the pro sides then they are not equipped for pro rugby. Scotland has tried to rectify this by bringing in 4 national academies with BT and Italy have brought in 8 regional academy/centres so hopefully for them this will increase the ability of players coming through the system, at least the cream of the crop anyway.

When you consider that Ireland and Wales for example have 4 international class professional academies each and a decent level of domestic club competitions they have a sizeable advantage. Unless you have more pro sides, better development competitions or encourage your youngsters to join foreign academies then you have a problem with depth and competition for places.

Having your internationals all condensed in 2 sides also means you can't rotate them that often, in international clashes you could be missing over half your squad and the squad players replacing them are not of a high standard as i've touched on, Italy can't afford top quality foreign players either, relying on reject Saffas who are looking for Italian qualification.
If the Pro 12 was a competition like Super Rugby where the internationals could play in all the games then i think it would benefit them much more.

Italy's problems are severe, structural issues which not been rectified since they've joined the 6 nations.

A Rome side should be considered though, they could bring a lot more sponsorship interest and legitimacy to the Italian project. It is stupid that Benneton Treviso is involved when they are a tiny club who bring nothing to the market, and who also have no interest in developing the game in their region/province.