Orazio "Bimbo" Arancio (born 15 November 1967 in

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

) is a former Italian rugby union player and a current coach and sports director. He played as a flanker.

Career

Arancio first played at Fiamma Catania, moving to

Amatori Catania Amatori Catania Rugby is an Italian rugby union club based in Catania. They are the only professional rugby union team in Sicily. The club was founded in 1963, and play at the Stadio Santa Maria Goretti. Amatori Catania have thus far not won th ...

in 1986/87, where he would remain until 1995/96. He played for a season at Amatori Rugby Milano, in 1996/97, moving afterwards to the French side of

RC Toulonnais Rugby Club Toulonnais (), also known as RCT but usually Toulon; oc, Rugbi Club Tolonenc) is a French professional rugby union club based in Toulon in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. A current participant in the first-tier Top 14 competition, they ...

, where he played in 1997/98. Returning to

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 ...

, he played at Benetton Treviso for two seasons, from 1998/99 to 1999/2000, being Italian Champion in 1998/99. Arancio played two seasons at Rugby Bologna 1928 (2000/01-2001/02). He then returned to Amatori Catania, where he would play for four seasons, from 2002/03 to 2005/06. His final team would be San Gregorio Rugby, from 2006/07 to 2009/10, finishing his career aged 43 years old. He became player and head coach at the season of 2008/09. He was in charge of the team until 2011/12. Arancio had 34 caps for

, from 1993 to 1999, scoring 2 tries, 10 points in aggregate. He was called for 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 ...

, playing three games, and for 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 ...

, playing two games. He was team manager of the

Italy national rugby sevens team The Italy national rugby sevens team has occasionally competed in the IRB Sevens World Series since the series' was introduced in 1999, although they do not participate in every leg. Their first (and currently only) ever points in the World Serie ...

, federal counselor of the

Italian Rugby Federation The Italian Rugby Federation ( it, Federazione Italiana Rugby) or FIR is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in Italy. The FIR has one seat on the 28-member World Rugby Council, the governing body of World Rugby. (All other members of ...

and member of the federal counsel of the

Italian National Olympic Committee The Italian National Olympic Committee ( it, Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano, CONI), founded in 1914 and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is responsible for the development and management of sports activity in Italy. ...

. He was awarded the Golden Star of the INOC in 2006.

External links

* 1967 births Living people Italian rugby union players Italy international rugby union players Italian rugby union coaches Rugby union flankers {{Italy-rugbyunion-bio-stub