Best player at the Six Nations and Italy's new gladiator Tommaso Menoncello explains his tattoos and speaks on the Azzurri's new era, his idol and his growing fame

The tattoos and nasty scar on Tommaso Menoncello’s body help tell the story of what has been a short but incredible journey to rugby’s highest level for the new superstar of the Italian game.

Still just 21, Menoncello has been named the Six Nations men’s player of the Championship for 2024, the award capping what has been a remarkable comeback from injury.

He is already a shining light in an Azzurri side which is now looking towards what they will hope will be a bright future after years of misery but also a potential future great.

‘I was the 717th player to play for Italy,’ Menoncello tells Mail Sport, pointing at the number inked on the back of his forearm at the end of his first major interview for a publication outside of his homeland. 

Speaking at the training ground of his club Benetton and clutching the gong which reflects his more-than-promising talent, Menoncello then shows off the marked skin by his left shoulder from the operation he had last summer on a bicep problem which forced him to miss the 2023 World Cup.

‘They went in here and here,’ he says, showing off the legacy of the surgeon’s work. ‘I also have the date from my first Test try for Italy tattooed on my chest – February 5, 2022 – against France.

‘This award is a huge thing for me after the injury I had because that was a really difficult period. 

‘Everybody thought it would be very hard for me to come back as before but the only thing in my mind was that I had to come back better. I showed in this Six Nations what I can do. 

‘I’m very proud and happy to be the man of the Six Nations. It was a really big shock.’

Menoncello might soon start running out of room if he marks each of his rugby achievements with some commemorative artwork as there will surely be much more for him to celebrate in the future. 

Not much was known of Menoncello outside of Italy before the start of the year.

But his extraordinary performances in what was statistically the country’s best Six Nations in terms of results announced him to a far wider audience. He is only the second Azzurri player to win the Championship’s coveted individual award and the youngest from any country ever to do so.

‘Sonny Bill Williams is my idol. I want to be like him with the offloading game,’ Menoncello adds, switching between his native Italian and English in impressive fashion.

‘He’s the player I take a lot of inspiration from. In the future I want to improve my ability to offload and also my kicking game. I used to play prop. It was a long time ago – when I started rugby in the Under-12’s. They put me there for one season but I didn’t like it!’

Menoncello is fresh faced and still incredibly young, but he already possesses the sort of hulking physique required to thrive in international rugby. Six Nations wins over Scotland and Wales and a draw with France showed real Azzurri progress.

New head coach Gonzalo Quesada has already made a big impact. 

In the likes of Menoncello, Quesada has a talented group of young players at his disposal after the Italian Rugby Federation undertook a severe revamp of their academy system. The move has more than paid off.

‘It was our best Six Nations and the best period for Italian rugby for a long time,’ says Menoncello, who was born and raised in Treviso and still lives at home with his parents in the city.

‘We didn’t like the comments we saw in the newspapers and on social media saying Italy shouldn’t be in the Six Nations. One of our goals this year was to show what we can do, especially after the World Cup which ended in not the best way. For us, this is a start.

'In the next Six Nations we want to do even better. We want to keep winning for the next few years.‘

It was one of our goals for the Six Nations to try and inspire the Italian people and sell out the Stadio Olimpico. We did it. Now we want to try and inspire more people and grow rugby in Italy.’

After a breakthrough Championship, Menoncello is under the radar no longer. His back-line power is shown by the fact that in this year’s Six Nations, Menoncello averaged five metres gained per forward carry. In the brutally physical world of modern-day Test rugby where forward momentum is a priceless commodity, such a statistic is very impressive.

The swiftness of Menoncello’s rise and the fact he is still relatively unknown on a global scale is reflected by the fact he is still to be offered a boot deal. The sponsors will surely be queuing up to be associated with him now. 

His talent is obvious. Menoncello joined up with Italy’s senior squad to train when he was just 17 and before he’d even played for Benetton.

He made his club debut at 18 and scored within five minutes. Menoncello’s international bow against France in 2022 saw him become Italy’s youngest try scorer and the youngest to cross the whitewash in the Six Nations. He was just 19.

His dream is to move to a club in France’s TOP14 when his Benetton contract expires. Menoncello likes to watch MotoGP and tennis away from rugby. He keeps an eye on Juventus’ results but unlike the majority of teenage Italians, he grew up preferring rugby to football.

Now, he is one of his country’s sporting stars in the 15-a-side game just seven years after he first started going to watch Benetton matches with his father Michele.

Menoncello’s YouTube highlights reel makes for impressive viewing.

‘I’m still only 21 so I know I can still grow more. I will concentrate on myself to improve,’ he says. ‘Treviso is one of the cities in Italy with the most interest in rugby. The people here stop me in the street and ask for a photo or a chat. It’s still a bit unusual for me but it makes me very happy and so proud. It means a lot to me to play for Treviso.

‘I’m very proud to be where I am now. It’s fantastic. It is really amazing for me to be a part of this Italian team and play in the Six Nations at such a young age.

‘I have a lot of goals to reach and step by step, I think I can reach them. I never stop thinking about rugby. I just love it. My mum has to work hard to feed me!’