FRENCH coach Bertrand Fourcade, whose death at the age of 81 was announced this week, rarely gets mentioned for his contribution to Italian rugby these days but his impact was significant during his four-year stint between 1989-93.
It was early days for Italy in their bid to gain a Five Nations place, but Fourcade made a couple of big calls during his reign that played out over the following decade. He expedited the “import” of a young Diego Dominguez from Argentina and gave him his head to run the backs from 1990 onwards when he started playing for Italy and midway thro...