Rugby arrives at Juventus Museum with 'The Heart of Rugby' exhibition | OneFootball

On 23 November, rugby will take centre stage at the Allianz Stadium.

Our stadium will open its doors for the first time for a non-football event: this time the ball will be oval as Italy’s rugby Azzurri will take to Juventus’ pitch, in a massive clash against New Zealand’s All Blacks.

To mark this great event, the Juventus Museum will host ‘The Heart of Rugby’, an unmissable exhibition dedicated to the history and culture of rugby. The exhibition opened today, Wednesday 23 October 2024, in Juventus Museum's temporary exhibition hall. It is a unique exhibition dedicated to the history, values and stars of this fascinating sport, ahead of the test match that will see the Azzurri take on the legendary All Blacks.

The exhibition, created from a collaboration between Juventus, the Italian Rugby Federation and the Museum of Rugby, will be open to the public from Thursday 24 October - until Sunday 24 November - and will represent an extraordinary opportunity for sports and culture fans to discover the world of rugby through a collection of memorabilia. Inside you will be able to see jerseys, balls, trophies and other key objects that form part of rugby’s rich history, with unique items belonging to the most successful National Teams and greatest clubs that are normally on display at ‘The Museum of Rugby, Mud and Sweat’ in Artena (in the province of Rome).

‘The Heart of Rugby’, which is housed in the exhibition spaces of the Juventus Museum, a key building for Juventus fans and sports lovers, which has already opened its halls to other sports such as tennis and basketball, offers a journey through time to discover the origins of rugby, its legends and the emotions that the game continues to arouse throughout the world. The New Zealand Federation also actively participated in the project, sending some memorabilia that will be on display for the duration of the exhibition.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony took place this afternoon, exactly one month before the Italy-All Blacks test match scheduled for 23 November (kick-off at 21:00 CEST).

Juventus Museum hosts ‘The Heart of Rugby’

Paolo Garimberti, President of the Juventus Museum stated: “The exhibition is confirmation that the Juventus Museum is not just a football museum, but a museum of sports history. For this reason, when there are sporting events of national and international importance in Turin, which is increasingly becoming the capital of sport, such as the ATP tennis finals or the Final Eights of the Italian Basketball Cup, we open our halls to exhibitions dedicated to other sports to recall their history and present their most representative champions. Italy versus New Zealand means taking on the All Blacks, a unique team not only in the history of rugby, but in the history of sport in general. For the precise reason that the All Blacks are a universal sporting symbol, the match against Italy on 23 November marks another first: as for the first time since its inauguration in September 2011, the Allianz Stadium, our home ground, will be the venue for a non-football event. This is also the reason why the Museum wanted to host this exhibition in collaboration with the Italian Rugby Federation and the Museum of Rugby, whom I want to thank for their precious help, and without whom this exceptional event would not have been possible.”

“The team shirt, in rugby perhaps more than in other sports, is a symbol of belonging” said Vittorio Musso, Federal Councillor of the Italian Rugby Federation, “it is precious for those who have worn it and handed it down to future generations of players. The Museum of Rugby has collected and developed over the years a collection that forms part of the heritage of the entire Italian rugby history. A month out from Italy v New Zealand, and just over ten days from the most eagerly awaited autumn fixtures for the Italian sports community, we are happy to be able to host this exhibition dedicated to some of the most prestigious teams of our sport in a setting such as the Juventus Museum, contributing to making international rugby, its history and traditions known to an even wider public.”

“Our goal is to bring the history of rugby to an ever-wider audience, and to do so here at the Juventus Museum, such a renowned venue in the national museum scene, is a great honour for us,” said Corrado Mattoccia, President of the Foundation ‘The Museum of Rugby, Mud and Sweat’. “We want to offer visitors an immersive and engaging experience, and be able to convey all the passion and emotion of this sport. I would like to express our sincerest gratitude to President Paolo Garimberti and his entire team for the exceptional welcome. Thank you for believing in our project and for making this extraordinary collaboration between sports of different disciplines possible, uniting the passions and emotions of rugby and football.”

The Juventus Museum becomes the home of international rugby