Alessandro Fusco (born 28 October 1999) is an Italian professional rugby union player who primarily plays scrum-half for Zebre Parma in the United Rugby Championship. He has also represented Italy at international level, having made his test debut against Argentina during the

2021 Autumn Nations Series The 2021 end of year rugby union tests, also referred to as the Autumn internationals in the Northern Hemisphere, were rugby union test matches during October and November 2021, mainly involving countries from the Northern Hemisphere hosting those f ...

. Fusco has previously played for clubs such as Fiamme Oro in the past. Fusco is the great-grandson of

Elio Fusco Elio is an Italian male given name. Origin A name of dual origin, Elio is primarily a revival of it, Elio, label=none (Helios), the Greek god of the Sun. it, Elio, label=none derives, through the Latin ''Helius'', from the Ancient Greek Ἥ ...

, a 1960s Neapolitan rugby icon who played eleven times for Italy and coached the storied Partenope, winners of the Top10 in 1965 and 1966. His grandfather was an Italian rugby player as well.

Professional career

Fusco has previously played for clubs such as Fiamme Oro in the past. For the end of

2019–20 Pro14 The 2019–20 PRO14 (also known as the ''Guinness Brewery, Guinness PRO14'' for sponsorship reasons) was the nineteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Pro14, Celtic League. It was the third season to be ...

season and for

2020–21 Pro14 The 2020–21 PRO14 (also known as the ''Guinness PRO14'' for sponsorship reasons) was the twentieth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the fourth season to be referred to as the ''PRO ...

season, Fusco was named as ''Permit Player'' for

Zebre Zebre Parma (, meaning "Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by the ...

. He made his Zebre debut in Round 6 of the

against

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

. In 2018 and 2019, Fusco was named in the Italy Under 20 squad. On 31 October 2021, he was selected by Kieran Crowley to be part of an Italy 34-man squad for the

2021 end-of-year rugby union internationals The 2021 end of year rugby union tests, also referred to as the Autumn internationals in the Northern Hemisphere, were rugby union test matches during October and November 2021, mainly involving countries from the Northern Hemisphere hosting those f ...

. He made his debut against Argentina. In 2022, Fusco became the first person from Naples to play in the Six Nations, when replacing

Stephen Varney Stephen Lorenzo Varney (born 16 May 2001) is a Welsh-born Italian professional rugby union player who primarily plays scrum-half for Gloucester of the English Premiership. He has also represented Italy at international level, having made his te ...

in Italy's loss to England. Fusco was named in Kieran Crowley's 33-man squad for the

2022 end-of-year rugby union internationals The 2022 end of year rugby union tests, also known as the 2022 Autumn internationals, were a number of rugby union test matches played during the months of October and November. Some of the games were known as the Autumn Nations Series for marketin ...

. On 22 August 2023, he was named in the Italy's 33-man squad for the

2023 Rugby World Cup The 2023 Rugby World Cup is scheduled to be the tenth men's Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It is scheduled to take place in France from 8 September to 28 October 2023 in nine venues across the cou ...

. In June 2023 he was also named in Italy Sevens squad for the

2023 Rugby Europe Sevens Championship Series The 2023 Rugby Europe Sevens Championship Series was the twenty-first edition of the continental championship for rugby sevens in Europe. The series took place over two legs, the first at Algarve in Portugal and the second at Hamburg in German ...

References

External links

* 1999 births Living people Italian rugby union players Zebre Parma players Rugby union scrum-halves Fiamme Oro Rugby players Italy international rugby union players Sportspeople from Naples European Games competitors for Italy Rugby sevens players at the 2023 European Games 2023 Rugby World Cup players {{Italy-rugbyunion-bio-stub