Rugby is ever on the lookout for the young player with diamonds on his shoes. The sparkling feet, the sprinkling of magic dust, the assassin’s eye.
The fresh face who has more than game, a little panache, a hint of attitude, where every attacking run is like a dare from his team-mates to see if he can make it.
Playing without guard rails sometimes brings its own problems but players like Italy’s Ange Capuozzo, who made his international debut in last season’s Six Nations Championship, have brought to life how enterprise and natural expression can tear open a rugby field to make it a personal playground and make lots of things possible.
For a sport that can sometimes be fixated by size, Capuozzo arrives from a long line of elusive runners told they were too small – Shane Williams, Cheslin Colbe and Christian Wade – a few who bucked the trend.
Last week against France, Capuozzo scored a try he had no right to get. Pushing up on the left side of the pitch, Italian scrumhalf Stephen Varney was over the ball and Capuozzo was inside him not far from the nearest post.
The fullback then went on a 30-yard full sprint around behind his scrumhalf to the blind side of the field and Varney fed him the ball. That was only the beginning.
France had the space covered with French number 8 Gregory Alldritt stationed on the outside. Lock Paul Willemse was also tracking with Antoine Dupont behind in the cover.
Capuozzo had nowhere to go. Alldritt had him lined up. Still the 23-year-old ran at the backrow and feigned to cut towards the goal. That move shifted Alldritt’s weight for a fraction of a second. Capuozzo then beat him to the punch.
With an injection of gas the light feet of the fullback ghosted over what little ground was left and threw himself down in the corner with Alldritt wrapped around his waist a day late and a dollar short.
Baffled Alldritt stood up looking embarrassed. On another day, the 5ft 10in Capuozzo would have been picking his bag of bones from the third row.
Instead, there was a cartoon bubble caption over the head of the French player. It said: “Yeah I had him, then I didn’t.” Dupont turned away and sheepishly walked from the crime scene.
Capuozzo was introduced by New Zealand coach Kieran Crowley a year ago and played his first game against Scotland, making a memorable debut with two tries. He scored two more in Italy’s win against Australia last November, added another against South Africa in the Series and topped it off against France last week.
Eight caps, six tries. But the numbers don’t account for the electrification of the Italian team and the wattage it gives out with their French Italian prowling the back field.
His most successful sucker punch came against Wales last year in the dying minutes of their Six Nations match and it didn’t result in Capuozzo scoring. A high ball was punted to Italy, caught by the right wing and instantly fed infield to a central Capuozzo deep in the Italian half.
His run took him up to the Welsh line, where he abruptly turned right laterally across the pitch taking out three Welsh players before punching through and down the pitch. Gliding through the heart of the Welsh midfield and breaking a tackle, he passed to Edoardo Padovani to score the winning try.
It was Italy’s first win against Wales since 2007 and ended a 36-match losing streak in the Six Nations Championship. After the game, Wales wing Josh Adams handed over his Player of the Match trophy to the unstoppable hornet.
There is always some mystery to players who break into the scene. Capuozzo is a new challenge to teams, who are always looking to break down opponent’s games. As time moves on, they will make the pitch smaller for him, shrink his space faster.
But his separation point is an elusive running ability with an X-factor and enough menace to generate a sense of anticipation when he is in space with the ball. The attacking range is wide, from close in as against France and from his own half against Wales. His vision and the light hands and feet to unpick defensive lines will always promise a moment of magic.
All that at under 80 kilos and 1.77 metres (5ft 10in). A problem in the eyes of some coaches, Capuozzo’s rack is spare and his cheekbones threaten to break the stretched skin of a gaunt face. He lacks the layer of natural padding most rugby players have, to condition their bodies for the hits.
He will soon become a target for box kicks and high ball challenges and in contact there are mismatched times when he’ll come out second best. But Italy have invested in something that has not been coached or codified in a manual.
Nor is it simply good fortune that his career took off just as Italy made history by beating Wales in Cardiff. He didn’t just happen to get on the Italy bus at the right stop for that win to happen. It happened because of him.
He is already among the brightest young prospects in world rugby. More the loss for French overlord Fabien Galthie as Capuozzo was born in Le Pont-de-Claix in France. Michael Lowry and Jordan Larmour, we hear you.
