Marzio Innocenti

Marzio Innocenti

Date of birth	4 September 1958
Place of birth	Livorno, Italy
Occupation(s)	Rugby coach Otorhinolaryngologist
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Flanker, number 8
Amateur clubs
Years	Club / team
	Livorno Petrarca Padova
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
1981-1988	Italy	42	(8)
Coaching career
Years	Club / team
1991-1997 2005-2008 2008-2009 2009 2009-	CUS Padova Rugby Valsugana Rugby Rugby Riviera Casino di Venezia Rugby Riviera

Marzio Innocenti (born 4 September 1958 in Livorno) is a former Italian rugby union player and a current coach. He played as a flanker and a number 8.

Playing career

He grew up playing for Livorno but spent most of his career in Padua playing for Petrarca, team with which he won four league titles (the last one as the captain of the side).^[1]

He made his international debut for Italy in 1981 in the FIRA Trophy (a predecessor of the present-day European Nations Cup) in a 23-0 win against Western Germany^[2] proceeding to win a total of 42 caps (20 as a captain) until his international retirement in 1988.^[3] He was the captain of Italy in the 1987 World Cup in which he played all the three games and scored one of his two international tries.^[4]

Coaching career

After his retirement and after having obtained a degree in medicine at the Padua University and started a practice as an otorhinolaryngologist,^[5] Innocenti started his coaching career by being part of Bertrand Fourcade's staff at the 1991 Rugby World Cup and at the same time being in charge of the Italian "A" team alongside Massimo Mascioletti and Stefano Romagnoli.^[6] In 1991, after the World Cup, he took charge of CUS Padova, that he led until 1996 when the club, after having won its third promotion under Innocenti's guide, was admitted for the first and only time in its history to Serie A1 (now National Championship of Excellence), the highest tier of Italian rugby.

During his tenure, Innocenti unearthed such talents as internationals Nicola Mazzucato and Gianluca Faliva.

In 1996 he left the coaching role to become the club's Director of Rugby.

In 2000 he was elected to the board of the Federazione Italiana Rugby (FIR), role in which he was confirmed in 2004 after having been defeated by Giancarlo Dondi in his bid for presidency of the same organization.^[7]

In 2005 Innocenti accepted to return to coaching for Valsugana Rugby, in Padua, leading the club to an immediate promotion. In 2008 he took charge of Rugby Riviera, in Mira, also being promoted at the first attempt^[8] to Serie A, the national second tier league.

In 2009 Marzio Innocenti made his debut as a first division coach with Casino di Venezia.^[9][10] The team, though, didn't perform as expected, and Innocenti was sacked at the end of October.^[11] In November he was re-hired by Rugby Riviera.^[12]

References

1. Corrado Sanucci (1986-04-26). "Petrarca's championship win (in Italian)". La Repubblica. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
2. "Italy v West Germany 29/11/1981". ESPN Scrum.com. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
3. "Innocenti's international profile". ESPN scrum.com. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
4. "The opening game of the Rugby World Cup". Fox Sport News. 2003-12-19. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
5. "Gruppo Data Medica list of doctors". Gruppo Data Medica. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
6. "Marzio Innocenti's bio (in Italian)". Venezia Mestre Rugby. 2009-06-21. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
7. "2000 FIR elections (in Italian)". FIR Federazione Italiana Rugby. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
8. "Rugby Riviera - Serie A". Rugby Riviera. 2009-05-24. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
9. - Casino di Venezia "Super 10 2009 roster changes" Check |url= value (help). SoloRugby.org. 2009-06-23. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
10. "Innocenti new Casino di Venezia coach (in Italian)". AIR Associazione Italiana Rugbysti. 2009-06-24. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
11. "Innocenti fired (in Italian)". Venezia Mestre Rugby. 2009-10-29. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
12. Giacomo Piran (2009-11-12). "Innocenti back for Riviera (in Italian)". La Nuova Venezia. Retrieved 2009-12-15.