Ion Neculai
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| Born | 25 January 2001 Chișinău, Moldova | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 189 cm (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 132 kg (291 lb; 20 st 11 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ion Neculai (born 25 January 2001) is a Moldovan-born Italian professional rugby union player who plays prop for Northampton Saints in the Gallagher PREM.[1]
Professional career
Neculai has previously played for clubs such as Elba Rugby and I Cavalieri in the past. He signed for Zebre in July 2021 ahead of the 2021–22 United Rugby Championship.[2] He made his debut in Round 1 of the 2021–22 season against the Lions.[3]
In 2020 and 2021 Neculai was named in Italy U20s squad for annual Six Nations Under 20s Championship.[4] On 14 October 2021, he was selected by Alessandro Troncon to be part of an Italy A 28-man squad for the 2021 end-of-year rugby union internationals.[5] On 30 May 2022, Neculai was selected by Kieran Crowley to be part of an Italy 33-man squad for the 2022 mid-year rugby union tests. He made his debut against Portugal.[6][7]
At the end of the 2025–26 season, he left Zebre Parma and joined English side Northampton Saints in the Gallagher PREM for the 2026–27 season.[8]
References
- ↑ "Ion Neculai". Ultimate Rugby. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
- ↑ "I due giovani avanti sono pronti ad esordie nell'EPCR Challenge Cup e nel nuovo torneo internazionale United Rugby Championship". Zebre Rugby (in Italian). 21 July 2021. Archived from the original on 21 July 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
- ↑ "Lions make thrilling, winning start to URC". SA Rugby Magazine. 24 September 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
- ↑ "Italia U20, Gli Azzurrini Convocati per Il Sei Nazioni 2021".
- ↑ "Italia A, gli azzurri convocati per il match contro la Spagna". FIR (in Italian). 14 October 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
- ↑ ITALRUGBY, GLI AZZURRI CONVOCATI PER IL TOUR ESTIVO 2022
- ↑ "Italrugby, il XV per l'esordio nel tour contro il Portogallo". Italy Rugby (in Italian). 25 June 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
- ↑ "Ion Neculai: Italian International joins Northampton Saints". BBC Sport. 3 August 2026. Retrieved 9 August 2026.
External links
- Ion Neculai at European Professional Club Rugby
- Ion Neculai at ESPNscrum (archived)
- Ion Neculai at ItsRugby.fr (in French)
- Ion Neculai at All.Rugby
- Ion Neculai at RugbyDatabase.co.nz