Robert Julian Barbieri (born 5 June 1984) is a retired Canadian-born Italian

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

player. He played as a flanker. He decided to represent

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Club career

He played for Yeomen (2000–03) in Canada, before moving to the Italian side

Overmach Rugby Parma Crociati Parma Rugby F.C. are an Italian rugby union club. They are based in Parma in Emilia-Romagna. They were founded in 2010 by the merger of Rugby Parma F.C. (''Overmach Parma'') and F.C. Rugby Noceto and disbanded in 2014. Rugby Parma ''Rug ...

(2003–07). Barbieri then went to play for Benetton Treviso. On 21 May 2014, Barbieri moved to England to join

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its ho ...

, who compete in the

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is th ...

, for the 2014-15 season. However, on 14 April 2015, Barbieri rejoined Benetton Treviso in the Pro12. On 9 May 2019, Barbieri was released by Benetton Treviso and subsequently ended his playing career.

International career

Barbieri's first game for Italy was in the 52-6 win over Japan, on 9 June 2006, on the same day that his brother, Michael Barbieri, earned his first cap for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. Robert Barbieri was a member of the Italian squad in the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to ...

finals, but was ruled out because of injury. He took part in the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South ...

. His final national team call-up was in summer 2017 for a test match in Singapore.

References

External links

Robert Barbieri international statistics
1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Toronto Benetton Rugby players Leicester Tigers players Canadian rugby union players Italian rugby union players Rugby union flankers Italy international rugby union players Canadian sportspeople of Italian descent Canadian expatriate sportspeople in England Italian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate rugby union players in England {{Italy-rugbyunion-bio-stub