Who is Ange Capuozzo? How an almost-unkown player became a rising World Rugby star

Last Sunday, Italy lost 31-14 at Twickenham against England. Dominated, the Squadra Azzurra could not do anything against the British power of Jack Willis and his teammates.

However, despite the tough outing in London, Ange Capuozzo once again showed his attacking prowess as the Toulouse fullback set fire to the British defense making over a dozen incredible line breaks.

Two weeks ago, the 23-year-old winger already impressed against France, scoring a magnificent early try that had cast doubt in French heads.

Despite a successful performance, the Italian team failed to beat the Blues in Rome. A 29-24 defeat despite a promosing result considering just one year ago, these same Italians lost 57-6 in Ireland. Italy are doing better and have proven it this year with prestigious victories against Wales and Australia.

If Italy is back in good shape and is starting to threaten the best nations in the world, it is largely thanks to Ange Capuozzo. The 23-year-old was voted man of the match in Italy's historic win over Wales on March 19, 2022.

A monumental breakthrough in the 78th minute, just before the end of the match, to offer the try on a plateau to his teammate, the action of the winner. Besides being an excellent player, he is also an intelligent and selfless winger.

Today, Ange Capuozzo has become the mascot of Italian rugby but also a rising star in rugby world. The popularity of the young man continues to grow, while he continues to achieve excellence on the field. 

Even more impressive when you consider that last year Ange Capuozzo was still playing in the French second division, the Pro D2, in the Grenoble club. It was in the summer of 2022 that he was transferred to the biggest club in France, Stade Toulousain.

But how did he get there? Here is the story of an absolute outsider – the most French of Italians – who has suddenly set the rugby world on fire with his fierce ability. 

Ange Capuozzo was born on April 30, 1999 in Pont-de-Claix, in Isère, very close to Grenoble, to a Franco-Malagasy mother and an Italian father, who left Naples after the Second World War. Despite his French ties, he has dedicated himself to the Italian side. 

Ange started rugby at the age of five in the club of the commune of Pont-de-Claix. Despite his small size, he showed great promise and very impressive qualities of elimination and speed.

These qualities caught the eye of the biggest club in the department: Grenoble. From the age of 10, he left his small town to train in the champion club of France in 1954. The beginnings of a great story with the red and blue club.

In those days, Capuozzo was not playing as a winger or a fullback, his preferred positions today. No, with his small size, his speed and his support, he was a scrum half, with the number 9 on his back.

He continued his progression in Grenoble in the juinor grades, before joining the senior team during the 2019 season. He participated in his first professional match in the Top 14, on May 18 against Pau, coming off the bench after an hour to take the scrum-half position.

However, the young gun didn't set the world on fire in Grenoble. It was actually a few weeks after his first game, when he was called up with the Italy Under-20 team to play in the 2019 World Junior Championship, in Argentina, that things really started to click.

Here, he made the move from 9 to 15. A revelation for Capuozzo, who, back in France, will say that he has become a fullback and that this is really the start of his career.

The 2020-2021 season is Capuozzo's first "real" season, the year in which he becomes a regular player in the Grenoble squad. Demoted last year, the people of Isérois have only one objective: to win the Pro D2 to return to the first division.

Radiant, Ange Capuozzo impressed from his first tenure. He finished top scorer in the Pro D2 championship with 10 tries scored, tied with Jean-Bernard Pujol and was elected to the standard Pro D2 team of the season.

Despite all its efforts, Grenoble finished fifth and failed to move up to the Top 14. Same thing the following year, where the Isérois finished twelfth despite an excellent season by Capuozzo, still elected in the standard team for 2021-2022.

Following this season, he played his first matches with the Italian team. It was in the Italian shirt that Capuozzo would impress, scoring a brace against Scotland in the tournament, before pulling off an incredible move in Cardiff to give his country their first victory in Wales.

He was transferred in the summer of 2022 to Stade Toulousain, where he found some of the best players in the world including Antoine Dupont, Romain N'tamack, Anthony Jelonch and Cyril Baille.

A huge challenge for the 23-year-old Italian is that he is competong for winger and full-back positions with Mathis Jaminet, Thomas Ramos, Mathis Lebel, Arthur Retière, Dimitri Delibes… He signed until 2025 and will have to establish itself as a holder in the huge red and black workforce.

In November, he scored twice with Italy against Australia. Two tries that allow the Squadra Azzurra to beat the Wallabies for the first time in their history. The following week, he planted a new try against South Africa.

On November 20, he was elected revelation of the year during the evening of the World Rugby Awards 2022. The first major individual distinction for the player, who definitively wrote his name in the register of players to follow in Ovalie.

Today, Ange Capuozzo is Italy's not-so-secret weapon, but he could very soon be one world one of world rugby's biggest names. A small frame who has fire in the legs with an angelic face and an impressive humility. How far will he go?

See for yourself this Saturday (February 25) when the new look Italy get their shot at redemption against Ireland.