Massimo Giovanelli (born 1 March 1967, in

Noceto Noceto (Parmigiano: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Parma in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about northwest of Bologna and about west of Parma. The municipality of Noceto contains the ''frazioni'' (subdivisions, ...

) is a former Italian rugby union player. He played as a flanker. He was one of the best Italian rugby players of his generation.

Club career

Giovanelli started his career at the local team of Rugby Noceto Football Club, being promoted to the first category in 1984. He would play there until 1990/91, moving then to

Amatori Rugby Milano Amatori Rugby Milano were an Italian rugby union team based in Milan founded in 1927 and disbanded in 2011. Founded in 1927 as part of the football team Ambrosiana-Inter of Milan, the club won the first ever Italian championship in 1929 and e ...

, which he represented from 1991/92 to 1996/97. It was the most successful time of his career, winning three Italian Championship titles, in 1992/93, 1994/95 and 1995/96, and one Cup of Italy, in 1994/95. He moved to

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 1997, where he would play for Paris Université Club Rugby during one season, moving then 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 ...

, where he would stay for the season of 1998/99. Giovanelli returned to Italy, playing then for

Rugby Rovigo stadium, 200px Rugby Rovigo Delta, formerly known until 2010 as Rugby Rovigo, is an Italian rugby union club currently competing in the Top10. They are based in Rovigo, in Veneto. The club was founded in 1935 by medical student Dino Lanzoni, wh ...

(1999/2000). He left competition for some years due to an eye problem, but returned for a final spell with Rugby Colomo, where he would play from 2003/04 to 2006/07, finishing his career aged 40.

International career

Giovanelli had 60 caps for

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, from 1989 to 2000, scoring 4 tries, 19 points in aggregate. He was the captain for 37 caps. His first game was at 30 September 1989, in the 33-9 win over

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

, in

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Veneti ...

, in a friendly match, aged 22 years old. He was selected for three

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

finals, playing 2 times at the

1991 Rugby World Cup The 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France: at the time, the five European countries who participated in the Five Nations Championship. This was ...

, never being capped at the

1995 Rugby World Cup The 1995 Rugby World Cup was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country. The World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in Sou ...

, and playing three times at the

1999 Rugby World Cup The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was principally hosted by Wales, and was won by Australia. This was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's professi ...

. He was also the captain of Italy in this last presence. He had his last cap for the National Team during his sole presence at the

2000 Six Nations Championship The 2000 Six Nations Championship was the first series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, following the addition of Italy to the Five Nations. It was the 106th season of the championship overall. The title was won by England. England won ...

, at 5 February 2000, in the 34-20 win over

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

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, that marked his country debut at the competition. His eye injury forced him to leave the national team afterwards. He was inducted at the World Rugby Museum Wall of Fame in

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

on 17 February 2001.Massimo Giovanelli at the Twickenham World Rugby Museum Wall of Fame
/ref> He also graduated in architecture in 2003.

References

External links

Massimo Giovanelli at the Twickenham World Rugby Museum Wall of Fame
1967 births Living people Italian rugby union players Italy international rugby union players Rugby union flankers {{Italy-rugbyunion-bio-stub