Matteo Barbini (born 8 June 1982 in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

) 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 it ...

player. His usual position is in the centres. He plays for English

National Division One The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men’s English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when ...

club

Esher RFC Esher Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union club based in Surrey, England. Esher currently play in the third division of the English league system; National League 1, following the club's promotion from National League 2 South at th ...

, although is yet to represent them in the league due to a long-standing injury suffered pre-season. He has previously played for Italian club Benetton Treviso, and been capped for the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

, and was a part of their squad at the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...

in Australia. Barbini represented Italy at the under-21 Six Nations competition during 2002, and had subsequently moved up into the senior national side by the following summer for the Test matches in New Zealand. He made his full international debut for Italy on June 8, 2002 against the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

. Also on the tour, he scored two tries against Manawatu. He also scored a try against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

during a

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 ...

qualifier. He was included in Italy's squad for the 2003 World Cup, and played in Italy's opening loss to the All Blacks during the pool phase. Barbini did not make any other appearances during the World Cup. In 2004 he made his Six Nations Championship debut, coming on as a replacement in a match against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. During the 2005 season he left his club of 10 years, Padova, and joined Treviso.

References

External links

RBS 6 Nations profile

Matteo Barbini
on rwc2003.irb.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Barbini, Matteo 1982 births Italian rugby union players Living people Sportspeople from Venice Italy international rugby union players Rugby union centres 2003 Rugby World Cup players