Brex: 'My family in rugby feels part of a whole'

For rugby fans, the face of little Baltazar Brex is already familiar. He is only four years old but is always next to his dad, Juan Ignacio 'Nacho' Brex, in the moments that count. Last 7 February, the first day of the Six Nations 2026, he accompanied him on the pitch to celebrate the milestone of 50 appearances in the Azzurri shirt. A repeat of what we saw a year ago, again at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, when Brex had the captain's stripes for the match against Ireland. And it was with him at the end of the match when the Azzurri went to greet the fans in the stands.

"Even though he is very small, he likes to get on the field with me. He always asks for it and it's a great emotion for me,' explains Nacho Brex, born in 1992, centre of the Italian national rugby team, married to Oriana Karamalikis since 2022 and father of Baltazar, 4, and Olivia, 2. "Olivia is still too young, she knows that daddy goes out to go and play rugby or comes to see me at the stadium" but she is not exactly clear on the situation. "Fatherhood hasn't changed me, maybe I have more responsibility and can go out a bit less than the younger boys but in the game my approach has changed little or nothing. My wife is great at supporting me, she knows that rugby is a priority but family always comes first', a family 'very involved in the rugby world, we feel part of a whole'. And who knows if the oval ball will continue to be passed on from generation to generation.

"I would really like Baltazar to play rugby, because it is my sport, but every time I ask him he says no. Although then when we are at home, on the sofa, he asks me to play tackles. Now he is into cars and tells me he would like to drive go-carts. Whatever he decides to do, whether he is a dancer or a driver, I will support him and I will be happy,' continues Brex, fresh from an excellent Six Nations, where Italia beat England for the first time in history. "It was a historic victory, incredible. It is a result we have been looking for for years, which is part of our growth path. Now the goal is to keep this level and live up to expectations,' but no one got their heads up: 'We are a humble team, we keep our feet on the ground. Winning the Six Nations at the moment is always a dream. We work step by step. We move forward step by step." Although, "after beating Scotland, who then won with England and France, we can consider ourselves the best," jokes the player born in Buenos Aires, with Italian grandparents and great-grandparents and arrived in our country in 2015.

"The most positive thing, beyond the results, is how much this group has matured, on and off the field, especially in the management of the game," he returns seriously: "For example, with England even though we didn't play our best game, we won. In the past we wouldn't have done that, in fact sometimes we lost even if we played the perfect game'. The great architect of the change is certainly coach Gonzalo Quesada. "He has put this group in order," he explains. "Gonza studies a lot, he is a very detail-oriented person and until he has conveyed everything, he doesn't stop. He also has a cynical view of the game,' which in rugby means never missing an opportunity to score points. Points that can be scored with the hands (by scoring a try) or with the feet (through free kicks or transformations) and that inflame the public that has returned to fill the Stadio Olimpico: "It is a great pleasure and fills us with pride to have the stadium sold out. We are the cover image but this attention from the public is good for the whole movement'.