David Odiase tells us how the Italy of youth rugby is growing

In recent weeks, a video has been making the rounds of social profiles in which David Odiase, third line of Oyonnax and the Italian Under 20 rugby team charges his teammates before a category World Cup match. In his words there is all the grit of a young man who is hungry for victories and who wants to show everyone that Italy is no longer the Cinderella of the tournaments it participates in.

The 36-24 victory against the same age groups of South Africa is in this sense a historic achievement and a confirmation of what Odiase and his teammates believe in. Now, the last match of the World Cup, against Georgia, could launch coach Brunello’s Azzurrini towards a goal never reached before: the semifinals of the world tournament.

“After the victory against South Africa we were all happy with the result we managed to achieve – says Odiase, who was appointed captain in the last game and who will be captain again tomorrow – but now we are only thinking about Georgia. This does not mean that we have forgotten the last victory, but we have to concentrate fully”.

Odiase is undoubtedly one of the most interesting prospects in the world. He does things that, the good ones say, only Richie McCaw did at his age, someone who won two World Cups as captain of the All Blacks and who redefined the very concept of the back row, becoming the number 7 par excellence. Here, if you see Odiase play, you see in him the anger and determination that only great champions have. Traits that can also be found in his other companions.

“I think this desire to fight is the most important thing – he says –. We train hard and well, but always having this hunger with us pushes us towards new limits to overcome. We want to show everyone that Italy is not a team to underestimated, but rather a constant danger”.

Thanks to a golden generation, that of Gen Z who are doing very well with the oval ball, but also thanks to a coach, Brunello, who knows how to touch the hearts of the boys. “He’s the right man at the right time – he explains – Right from the start he made us understand that we are a family, that we fight every battle for our teammates, that the goals are collective. And that’s exactly how we feel when we wear this sweater”.

The victory against the Baby Boks follows a bad defeat in the opening match against Argentina, conditioned by the sending off after 15 minutes of the blue prop Destiny Aminu. Now, with one round remaining from the end of the group stage, all four national teams can compete for a place in the semifinals: in other words, it will be free-for-all.

Odiase recounts: “After South Africa, Sergio Parisse wrote to us. He told us that we had written a page of history, that he was delighted for us, but he also told us that we must be careful, not get overwhelmed and keep our nerves because now comes the fun part. We were delighted with your message”.

Odiase, like many of his teammates, above all Marcos Gallorini and François Mey (who is not playing in the World Cup due to an ankle injury) already seems ready for the senior national team. Who knows if the new coach, Gonzalo Quesada, doesn’t want to forge ahead and give these boys international prominence already in the next Six Nations, increasing the range of options for a senior national team that has shown signs of growth in recent years and is slowly slowly, not always in a functional way, welcoming back many fans who had left after seven years of expiation. After all, who said that a champion must necessarily go through the whole process of the youth team: Donnarumma made his debut in the national team at 17, but Odiase, who is twenty and a half years old, but who already thinks like a veteran is more ecumenical on the question : “Everyone has their own growth path. It would be wrong to lump everything together. For now, let’s focus on Georgia”.