Tito Lupini (12 November 1955 – 23 July 2021) was a South African-born Italian

rugby union 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 ...

player who played as a prop.

Biography

Born and raised in South Africa by Italian parents, Lupini as a player represented the provincial team of

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...

. After the appointment of former

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabhokobhoko) is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

coach Nelie Smith for

Rugby Rovigo Rugby Rovigo Delta, formerly known until 2010 as Rugby Rovigo, is an Italian rugby union club currently competing in the Top10 (rugby union), Serie A Élite. They are based in Rovigo, in Veneto. Overview The club was founded in 1935 by medical ...

, he moved to Italy in 1985 and played for

Rovigo Rovigo (, ; ) is a city and communes of Italy, commune in the region of Veneto, Northeast Italy, the capital of the province of Rovigo, eponymous province. Geography Rovigo stands on the low ground known as Polesine, by rail southwest of Veni ...

, in whose first row constituted a key element (also being Captain of the team) for the achievement of two national titles (1988 and 1990), alongside fellow south africans

Naas Botha Hendrik Egnatius 'Naas' Botha (born 27 February 1958) is a South African former rugby union player who played as a Fly-half for Northern Transvaal, Rugby Rovigo and South Africa (the Springboks). He was voted SA Rugby Player of the Year in ...

and

Gert Smal Gert Petrus Smal (born 27 December 1961, Kimberley, South Africa) is a former South African rugby union player and assistant coach of the South African and Irish national rugby union teams. He is currently the forwards coach at Japanese Top ...

. In the 1989–90 season, won by Rovigo, Lupini had the double role of player and coach. During his time in Italy, he helped Rovigo reaching the final twice (1989 and 1992), the semifinal (1991) and a quarter final (1993). The Smith-Lupini-Botha-Smal era is still fondly remembered in

, the most rugby addicted city in Italy, for the impact it had in ending a 9 years winning drought for the team. Lupini died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

-related complications on 23 July 2021. His mother died within 24 hours of him, also of the virus.

International career

Debuting for the Italian national team in the 1985-87 FIRA Trophy against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

at Constanţa,

Socialist Republic of Romania The Socialist Republic of Romania (, RSR) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist One-party state, one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989 (see Revolutions of 1989). From 1947 to 1965, the state was ...

, Lupini was called up by the then-coach Marco Bollesan in the roster which took part in the

first edition The bibliographical definition of an edition is all copies of a book printed from substantially the same setting of type, including all minor typographical variants. First edition According to the definition of ''edition'' above, a book pr ...

of the

Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...

, playing all the three matches where Italy played.

Coaching career

After his retirement from the playing career in 1992, Lupini started his coaching career, coaching Rovigo, leading the team to the final for the national championship (then lost) against Benetton Treviso in 1992. He also coached the forwards for the Namibia national team and the same role for Rovigo.

Notes

External links

Tito Lupini international statistics
1955 births 2021 deaths Rugby union players from Johannesburg Italian expatriates in South Africa Italian rugby union coaches Italian rugby union players Golden Lions players Rugby Rovigo Delta players Rugby union props Italy international rugby union players Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa South African expatriate sportspeople in Italy South African people of Italian descent 1987 Rugby World Cup players {{Italy-rugbyunion-bio-stub