Poor old Italian rugby. Being included in the Six Nations was meant to speed up their development, it hasn't really happened. Getting involved in the PRO12 was also seen as a major move to boost Italian rugby.
It looked like it was helping before the Italians crashed as the uncertainty over the Heineken Cup caused them to lose a lot of players.
This season was a new low for the Italians - winning only eight games between them, with just nine losing bonus points. It has lead to a number of journalists and pundits to query whether the Italians belong in the PRO12 and Champions Cup at all.
Which means it's surprising that the Italian rugby president is calling for another team to be included in the PRO12 - to be based in Rome.
FIR President Alfredo Gavazzi is pushing for a Rome based franchise to make the most of rugby in the country:
To only have two franchises is definitely something unrewarding and clipping our wings. I hope when we have the opportunity to field three sides in the Celtic League, the Flaminio Stadium is available for rugby because it is the best stadium I know in Italy.
We need a home in Rome because the development of our business can only go through a home in Rome and then hope that this will become the rugby stadium in the near future.
Teams clearly enjoy travelling to Parma to face Zebre for away games. A trip to Rome doesn't sound so bad either.
