Women’s rugby is exploding – but Italy are being left behind

London City Lioness defender Elena Linari (left) and Harlequins prop Turani are good friends - Jasper Wax/Getty Images

“I’m lucky because I can do what I love for a job. I’ve experienced having team-mates who were sacrificing their days off and holidays because they’ve had to train or play,” Linari tells Telegraph Sport. “That’s not right. I can play football here in one of the biggest clubs in one of the best leagues in the world; Michele [Kang] is giving us the chance to be a unique club. There’s a lot of work still to do but sometimes we as women can forget where we came from and hearing stories from Silvia, I’m not happy for the Azzurre and I will fight for them.”

For Turani, Linari’s backing and friendship has meant the world. The success of last year’s World Cup has elevated the profile of women’s rugby in the UK, but in Italy it is very different. “In terms of everything being hyped in women’s rugby, we haven’t felt that,” Turani says. “What the England players have is great, but it’s so far from our reality. Everyone says that women’s rugby is growing, it’s growing faster. It came up in a discussion between some of us and we were like: ‘Is it really growing in Italy?’ The reality unfortunately is, it’s not.”

Sources close to the Italian national team cite an ongoing lack of investment in women’s rugby. Players are said to have asked about playing in Rome’s Stadio Olimpico, home to Roma and Lazio, but logistical and financial constraints have thus far prevented this. The FIR rents the stadium, where the men’s team play their Six Nations matches, while the spring window of the Women’s Six Nations usually clashes with the business end of the Serie A season.

Which is why Parma has become the team’s unofficial home, although there appears to have been little appetite to promote women’s rugby around the Unesco town. When travelling around the city on match day in previous years, you would hardly know a Test was taking place.

There is an ongoing lack of investment in the women’s game according to sources close to the Italian national team - Federugby/Getty Images

“It sounds like there’s a lot of work to do,” Linari says. “I’m upset and sad to hear they’re far from the reality that we have in England for women’s football. I will push to help them reach what they need to reach. It’s not fair, just because they’re women. I’m grateful for having met Silvia and I’ll always be cheering for the girls now.”

What would constitute a success for Italy this weekend? Given the Azzurre have not scored more than five points in their last three meetings with England, the chances of replicating the heroics of Gonzalo Quesada’s team, who memorably stunned England’s men earlier this year, seem remote. They are a gutsy side who can string together promising passages of play but lack the execution and ability to withstand the Red Roses’ relentless physicality.

“We know it will be tough,” Turani says. “We’re not stupid; we’re fully aware of how great they are. We’ll prepare for the game like any other. I truly believe that when we step on that pitch, I’m not thinking about how Sarah Bern has been smashing into people and winning collisions for the past five years. I’m thinking about smashing her. You respect every player, but at the same time, we have to play our game.”

For now, that attitude – along with the invaluable support from their soccer counterparts – is as good as it gets for Turani and her team-mates.

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