Giovanni Pettinelli rugby player
Giovanni Pettinelli rugby player

Giovanni Pettinelli

13th Mar 1996 1.93m/108kg Openside Flanker

Giovanni Pettinelli, born on March 13, 1996, is an Italian professional rugby union player who primarily plays as a flanker for Benetton in the United Rugby Championship. He has also represented Italy at the international level.

Pettinelli began his career at Calvisano in the Top12 league before joining Benetton ahead of the 2018-19 Pro14 season. During his time at Calvisano, he had a loan spell with Zebre, making a single appearance against Ospreys in the Pro12 in September 2016.

He has been part of the Italian squad in various age-grade competitions. In 2016, he was a member of the Italy squad for the Six Nations Under 20s Championship, where he scored a try against Ireland. He also represented Italy in the World Rugby Under 20 Championship in the same year. Additionally, he was selected for the Emerging Italy squad for the World Rugby Nations Cup in 2018.

Pettinelli made his test debut for Italy against Argentina during the 2021 Autumn Nations Series. He has since been part of the Italy squad for the 2020 Six Nations Championship and the 2021 end-of-year rugby union internationals.

Born in Venice, Pettinelli began his rugby journey at Lyons Venezia Mestre and earned call-ups to the Italian national Under 17 and Under 18 teams, eventually captaining the side. He later played for the Mogliano Veneto Academy and the national academy in Parma.

He represented the Italian Under 20 national team in the Six Nations and the World Cup in 2016, featuring in all five matches of the tournament.

After the World Cup, he joined Calvisano Rugby, making 18 appearances and scoring 5 tries. He also had a stint with Zebre Rugby, despite being sidelined with an injury. In 2018, he signed with Benetton Rugby, where he has made 20 appearances and scored 5 points as of December 2019.

Ahead of the Rugby World Cup 2023, Pettinelli has been named in the squad for Italy.

KG(24/06/2023)





Career

Italy Italy U20's
Openside Flanker
2016 - 2017
image (10) Zebre Parma
Openside Flanker
2016 - 2018
Italy Italy
Openside Flanker
2021 - 2024
image Benetton Rugby
Openside Flanker
2018 - 2024