Rugby has arrived as Prodi gives seal of approval

ITALY’S Prime Minister Romano Prodi has never been a great football fan, unlike his opposite number Silvio Berlusconi, who is both president and owner of AC Milan, as well as most of the country’s TV stations.

So it was with obvious glee that Mr Prodi welcomed the Italian rugby players to his grand offices in Rome’s Palazzo Chigi on Thursday, just as he welcomed the footballers on their return from their World Cup triumph last summer.

If political approval is a measure of popularity then Italian rugby has evidently arrived.