Rugby union in Italy called trigon, which involved three players passing a ball to one another by hand. The ball was usually small and hard, but occasionally it was a "follis" or large bladder-ball. Italy is home to a number of forms of traditional football, some of which have features which are more similar to rugby, than to association football, such as handling the ball. A prime example of this is "calcio fiorentino" played in Florence. The "Piazza Santa Croce" of Florence is the cradle of this sport, that became known as "giuoco del calcio fiorentino" ("Florentine kick game") or simply "calcio" ("kick"). The
Rugby union in Italy first official rules of "calcio fiorentino" were recorded in 1580, although the game had been developing around Florence for some time before that date. The game involved teams of 27 kicking and carrying a ball in a giant sandpit set up in the Piazza Santa Croce in the centre of Florence, both teams aiming for their designated point on the perimeter of the sandpit. British communities brought rugby to Genoa between 1890 and 1895, with other games in Italy around 1909. The society that organised the first games dissolved soon after them. Italian rugby's traditional heartland consists of the small