ZEBRE CROSSING

Italian playmaker GIACOMO DA RE is enjoying a new lease of life in Parma

- MARK PALMER

WHEN GIACOMO Da Re moved on from Treviso last summer, he was leaving behind much more than a team. The city's stunning squares and waterways were pretty much all he had known in his then 25 years, while Benetton had been at the heart of his rugby story since the age of six.

It was in the club's much-vaunted youth set-up that Da Re had developed into a fly-half/full-back of rare flair and precision, his ability to play flat to the line dovetailing nicely with a strong kicking game. He was brought into the Italian federation's national academy and turned out for Mogliano and Rovigo at the top end of the club game before returning to the Stadio di Monigo as part of the first-team squad.

Initially, things happened quickly. Da Re made his Italy debut against Portugal in June 2022 on the back of just four Benetton appearances and was included in the squad for the following year’s World Cup. But with the likes of Tomás Albornoz, Leonardo Marin, Jacob Umaga and Rhyno Smith competing for the ten and 15 shirts back at base, Da Re found his opportunities limited.

Indeed, by the end of last season, he had made just 14 appearances - only eight of them starts - in the previous three campaigns. Something had to give, or more precisely, something had to change.

“I've always had the dream of becoming an important player,” Da Re sets out. “But I understood that if I didn’t make some alterations, I'd continue on this negative path that wasn't taking me anywhere. I did the maths, looked myself in the mirror and said, ‘If I want to grow, if I want to become someone, I have to start playing much more’.