\n<\/p>\n
Italy, who play their home Six Nations fixtures at Rome’s 70,000-seater Stadio Olimpico, also distanced themselves from the possibility of taking a game across the Atlantic.<\/p>\n
“The United States has all the potential to be a major market for the growth of our sport: in this respect, Italy was ahead of its time by playing a test match against Ireland in Chicago back in 2018,” said a spokesman for the Italian Rugby Federation (FIR). <\/p>\n
“An event like the one between South Africa and the All Blacks – one of the greatest rivalries on the international calendar – can serve as an exciting preview of the upcoming Men’s and Women’s Rugby World Cups in 2031 and 2033. <\/p>\n
“At present, however, there are no discussions between FIR and other stakeholders on the possibility of a Six Nations test taking place in the US.”<\/p>\n
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, external<\/span><\/a> and The Times, external<\/span><\/a>, Gilpin said: “This isn’t a live discussion of an Italy v Ireland game, but why we use that as an example is because you’ve got two fantastic fanbases in the US of Irish and Italian fans.<\/p>\n “If you could take a Six Nations game to the right place, to a Boston or to a New York, where there’s a lot of those fanbases, you can definitely drive the economics.<\/p>\n “Now, you’re going to have Irish fans and Italian fans in those respective home countries saying: ‘Hang on a minute, you know, we want to see our country play?’<\/p>\n “The counter-argument to that [is] it’s still Irish and Italian fans getting the chance to watch their team, so they’re just not the ones who live in Ireland and Italy on this occasion. But that’s a balancing piece we’ve got to work through.”<\/p>\n Ireland have previously enjoyed two well-attended games in the US against New Zealand.<\/p>\n They memorably beat the All Blacks for the first time when the teams met in front of a capacity 60,000-strong crowd at Chicago’s Soldier Field in 2016<\/a>, with a 2025 rematch which they lost also proving a similar commercial success.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n