Joshua Furno (born 21 October 1989) 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 who plays

Lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

for

US Dax Union sportive dacquoise, also known as US Dax, is a French rugby union club currently playing in Nationale, the third level of the French league system. They were founded in 1904. They play at Stade Maurice Boyau (capacity 16,170). They wear ...

Pro D2 Rugby Pro D2, also known as Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was in ...

. He also represents Italy as a member of the

Italian national team The Italy national football team ( it, Nazionale di calcio dell'Italia) has represented Italy in international football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing bo ...

Career

Raffaele Joshua Furno was born in Australia but grew up in Italy in the southern town of Benevento. He began his career with

Viadana Viadana may refer to: Surname * Lodovico Grossi da Viadana (c. 1560 – 1627), Italian composer, teacher, and Franciscan friar * Gilberto Viadana (born 1973), Italian figure skater Other * Viadana, Lombardy, a town in the province of Mantua, Lom ...

, then played with successor team Aironi in the

Pro12 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

before their dissolution in 2012. He then moved to

RC Narbonne R&C, RC, R/C, Rc, or rc may refer to: Science and technology Computing * rc, the default Command line interface in Version 10 Unix and Plan 9 from Bell Labs * .rc (for "run commands"), a filename extension for configuration files in UNIX-like ...

in the French

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. Furno signed for

Biarritz Olympique Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque (; ), usually known simply as Biarritz, is a French professional rugby union team based in the Basque city of Biarritz, Nouvelle-Aquitaine which competes in the Pro D2, the second division of French rugby. Biarritz p ...

who compete in the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

during the 2013-14 season. After the experience with

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. ...

, on 14 May 2014, Furno moved to England to sign for

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

in the Aviva Premiership ahead of the 2014–15 and 2015-16 seasons. In 2016−2017 season, he played 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 ...

in the

. After the experience with

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

and

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and

San Diego Legion The San Diego Legion is an American professional rugby union team based in San Diego, California. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in Major League Rugby. Home field The team plays at Snapdragon Stadium, which is located on the campus o ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, in 2022 he came back in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in order to play for Bressane in ProD2. In August 2022, after 5 year, he come back to

Zebre Parma 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 t ...

for 2022−23 season. In 2008 and 2009 Furno was named in the Italy Under 20 squad and in 2011 he was part of Emerging Italy squad. He made his test debut with

as a substitute in a 13–6 win against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in the

2012 Six Nations Championship The 2012 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2012 RBS 6 Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 13th series of the Six Nations Championship. The annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship was ...

. On 22 February 2014, he scored his first try for Italy in a Six Nations defeat to Scotland, and was subsequently named Man of the Match. On 24 August 2015, he was named in the final 31-man squad for the

2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was onl ...

.Rugby World Cup, Scelti i 31 Azzurri per Inghilterra 2015
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References

External links

Newcastle Falcons Profile
1989 births Living people Aironi players Australian emigrants to Italy Australian expatriate rugby union players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Australian expatriate sportspeople in France Australian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Biarritz Olympique players Expatriate rugby union players in England Expatriate rugby union players in France Expatriate rugby union players in the United States Italian expatriate rugby union players Italian expatriate sportspeople in England Italian expatriate sportspeople in France Italian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Italian rugby union players Italy international rugby union players Newcastle Falcons players Otago rugby union players RC Narbonne players Rugby union flankers Rugby union locks Rugby union players from Melbourne Rugby Viadana players San Diego Legion players Wellington rugby union players Zebre Parma players Union Sportive Bressane players Sportspeople from Benevento Italian expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand Expatriate rugby union players in New Zealand 2015 Rugby World Cup players {{Italy-rugbyunion-bio-stub