Elisa Giordano (born 1 November 1990) is an Italian

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player. She plays winger for Valsugana. Since 2022, captain of the

Italy women's national rugby union team Italy women's national rugby union team are the national women's rugby union team that represents Italy at international level. It has been administered by the Italian Rugby Federation since 1991; previously, since its inception in 1985 up to 19 ...

Career

She played basketball and handball, She came to rugby at the age of 19, and entered the women's training at Valsugana in

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

, where she studied at university. In November 2011, she made her debut in the Italian national team, in Nice against France. In 2012, she took part in the FIRA European championship in Rovereto, finishing third behind England and France. She graduated in occupational therapy, and she was eligible for the national team at the 2013 Universiade, in the rugby sevens tournament in

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering a ...

. Italy won the silver, after losing in the final 10-30 by Russia. She competed at the

2015 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2015 Women's Six Nations Championship, also known as the 2015 RBS Women's Six Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 14th series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby unio ...

, and

2016 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2016 Women's Six Nations Championship, also known as the 2016 RBS Women's Six Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 15th series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby union ...

, with 4 victories in 10 matches. This qualified Italy for the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup. At club level she won 3 consecutive championships, from 2015 to 2017, with Valsugana, where she was captain. In September 2022, she took over the captaincy of the Italian national team from

Manuela Furlan Manuela Furlan (born 30 June 1988) is a former Italian rugby union player. She captained Italy and was a member of their squad for the 2021 Rugby World Cup. She retired from international rugby at the end of 2022. Rugby career Furlan made her ...

at the

2021 Rugby World Cup The 2021 Rugby World Cup was the ninth staging of the women's Rugby World Cup, as organised by World Rugby. It was held from 8 October to 12 November 2022 in Auckland and Whangārei, New Zealand. It was originally scheduled to be held in 2021, ...

. She competed at the

2021 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship was the 20th series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby union competition between England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The 2021 tournament was given a change o ...

, At the

2023 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2023 Women's Six Nations Championship, known as the TikTok Women's Six Nations for marketing purposes, was the 22nd series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby union competition between England, France, Ireland, It ...

, she started against France.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Giordano, Elisa Living people 1990 births Italian female rugby union players Italy women's international rugby union players Sportspeople from the Metropolitan City of Venice