In 1934, Italy was one of the founder members of FIRA, today's Rugby Europe; the others were France, Spain, Belgium, Portugal, Catalonia, Romania, Holland and Germany.

Post-war, there was a desire to return to normal and Italian rugby union entered a new dimension thanks to the help of Allied troops in Italy.

In the 1970s and 1980s rugby union made enormous progress thanks to great foreign players (John Kirwan, Naas Botha, David Campese, Michael Lynagh) and coaches (Julien Saby, Roy Bish, Greenwood, Nelie Smith) in the Italian championship.

Even foreign coaches were and continue to be chosen for the national team, like Bertrande Fourcade and Georges Coste.

In 1973, the national team went on a tour of South Africa, coached by ex-Springbok prop Amos Du Plooey.

), and good results against the major nations such as France, Scotland, Wales and Ireland meant that they were often talked as strong candidates.

In January 1998, Scotland were the victims with Italy winning 25–21 (in Treviso); in the same year in the Rugby World Cup Qualifiers, they narrowly lost 15–23 against England at Huddersfield, but they argued for a try by Alessandro Troncon disallowed by the referee.

In the 2006 Six Nations Championship Italy performed strongly against every team, leading against both England and France in the first half, but lost their first three games.

The domestic interest in rugby reached new heights with Italy's new success front page media coverage and the sport being held up as a model of fair play.

At the 2008 end of year tour Italy pushed the Wallabies in their clash in Padova, but the Australians eventually went on to win 30–20.

The Azzurri were competitive in their 15–20 loss at the Flaminio to a Wales side resting many of its key players for the championship decider against Ireland the next week.

[18] At the final whistle, the English language commentator declared it the greatest win in Italian rugby history thus far.

Italy finished the 2012 Six Nations in fifth place with a 1–4 record, following a 13–6 win over Scotland before over 72,000 fans at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

[23] On their final game of the championship Italy won against Ireland 22–15 for the first time in a Six Nations match in front of 75,000 fans at the Stadio Olimpico.

In the 2015 Six Nations Championship, Italy took a 22–19 away win over Scotland to avoid the wooden spoon, but suffered heavy home losses to France and Wales.

At the 2015 Rugby World Cup, they defeated Romania and Canada but lost to Ireland and France, repeating their performance of the previous three editions.

[29] This victory also marked their first win over one of the three big Southern Hemisphere nations (Australia, New Zealand, South Africa).

Italy put in a fine performance in the 2024 Six Nations Championship, pulling off a remarkable 13–13 draw away from home against France in round three.

[31] Italy narrowly missed out on victory when Paolo Garbisi's penalty hit the post after the ball had accidentally fallen off the kicking tee.

Italy rounded off their tournament with a victory over Wales (24–21), as they did 2 years ago, and for the first time since 2015 avoided last place at the expense of their victim of the day, who inherited the wooden spoon.

The Italian Rugby Federation (FIR) announced, in January 2010, that the stadium would undergo an expansion, that will increase its capacity to 42,000.

It was planned that upon completion of the renovation, the team would move back to the Stadio Flaminio,[41] however little was achieved and as of September 2016 the stadium was still in a state of abandoned disrepair.

Both uniforms have on the chest the Scudetto, even if until the 1990s the non-test Italian teams had the coat of arms of the Maritime republics on the jersey.

Below is a table of the representative rugby matches played by an Italy national XV at test level up until 23 February 2025.

Italy entered the International Championship in 2000 when it became the Six Nations, and made a positive start by winning their debut match 34–20 against Scotland.

Italy also recorded a first Six Nations victory over Ireland in 2013, beating them 22–15, and equalling their best finish of fourth place in the final standings.

On 28 February 2015, Italy achieved their second away win against Scotland, a tight 22–19 victory, and after a 36-match losing streak they won in Wales for the first time on 19 March 2022 by 22–21.

At the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa, they finished behind England and Western Samoa, but above Argentina in their pool.

Italy won two pool games at the 2003 World Cup, defeating both Canada and Tonga, but lost to the All Blacks and Wales.

Italy competed in the original European Championships from 1936 to 1938, but World War II meant that the tournament would not resume until 1952.