Twenty years ago, the Five Nations became Six as Italy burst on to the scene with a scintillating 34-20 victory over Scotland in Rome.
To celebrate 20 years of the Six Nations, the Italian Rugby Federation launched a survey to select the best Italy XV from that period, with more than 5,000 Azzurri fans responding, and the results are below.
The team, revealed on the Guinness Six Nations website, is pretty incredible.
Italy’s Dream XV (caps, percentage of vote won)
BACK-THREE
15. Andrea Masi (95 caps, 67.7%)
14. Matteo Minozzi (19 caps, 40%)
11. Giovanbattista Venditti (44 caps, 23.1%)
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the full-back is Andrea Masi, earning two-thirds of the vote as a reward for being named Six Nations Player of the Championship back in 2011.
CENTRES
13. Michele Campagnaro (36 caps, 48.9%)
12. Mirco Bergamasco (89 caps, 23.1%)
Almost 50% of outside centre votes went to the dynamic Michele Campagnaro, while Mirco Bergamasco edged out Gonzalo Canale for the No.12 jersey.
HALF-BACKS
10. Diego Dominguez (74 caps, 69.7%)
9. Alessandro Troncon (101 caps, 61.6%)
In the half-backs, the duo that combined to help beat Scotland in the first Six Nations match are reunited as Alessandro Troncon and the diminutive Diego Dominguez – who kicked 29 points that day in Rome and remains Italy’s top points scorer in the Championship – both received more than 60% of the vote.