Ion Neculai (born 25 January 2001) is a Moldovan-born Italian professional

rugby union player Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

who primarily plays

prop A prop, formally known as a (theatrical) property, is an object actors use on stage or screen during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

for

Zebre Parma Zebre Parma (, meaning "Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by the ...

of the

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in ...

Professional career

Neculai has previously played for clubs such as I Cavalieri in the past. He signed for Zebre in July 2021 ahead of the

2021–22 United Rugby Championship The 2021–22 United Rugby Championship was the twenty-first season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the first season that the competition is referred to as the United Rugby Championship ...

. He made his debut in Round 1 of the 2021–22 season against the . In 2020 and 2021 Neculai was named in Italy U20s squad for annual

Six Nations Under 20s Championship The Six Nations Under 20s Championship is an international rugby union tournament. It is the under-20s equivalent of the Six Nations Championship. Originally the tournament was in an under-21 format but changed to under-20s in 2008. England ...

. On 14 October 2021, he was selected by

Alessandro Troncon Alessandro Troncon (born 6 September 1973 in Treviso) is a former Italian rugby union player. Troncon is the 6th most capped player in Italian rugby union history, and the first Italian to gain 100 caps. The veteran scrum-half made his Italy deb ...

to be part of an Italy A 28-man squad for the

2021 end-of-year rugby union internationals The 2021 end of year rugby union tests, also referred to as the Autumn internationals in the Northern Hemisphere, were rugby union test matches during October and November 2021, mainly involving countries from the Northern Hemisphere hosting those ...

. On 30 May 2022, Neculai was selected by

Kieran Crowley Kieran James Crowley (born 31 August 1961) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player, who is the former head coach of Italy. He has also coached the New Zealand Under-19s in the 2007 World Championships as well as coaching provincial ...

to be part of an

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

33-man squad for the

2022 mid-year rugby union tests The 2022 mid-year rugby union internationals (also known as the summer internationals in the Northern Hemisphere) were international rugby union matches that were mostly played in the Southern Hemisphere during the July international window. For ...

. He made his debut against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

References

External links

* 2001 births Living people Italian rugby union players Moldovan rugby union players Zebre Parma players Rugby union props Italy international rugby union players Sportspeople from Chișinău 21st-century Italian sportsmen {{Rugbyunion-bio-stub