In over 600 years since its inception by the lawns of Christchurch Park, the list of venerable Brits to have passed through Ipswich School makes for some reading. Air commodores and academics, doctors and journalists, artists and athletes and a fair few war heroes have wandered the palatial halls and frolicked on the sports fields which surround them. It’s a place of gravitas and history.
To these grand alumni, we may soon add a boy from Milan, who, by the age of 14, was already demonstrating the kind of fortitude and self-belief which have propelled him to the cusp of his first Italian cap, the next step on a whiplash-inducing rise from obscurity to the Test arena.
Four years ago, Edoardo Todaro longed to spread his wings. He’d endured months of masks and humdrum and covid-enforced confinement. Cabin fever gripped him. Hard.
Acting on a tip from a friend, Todaro earned an academic and rugby scholarship at Ipswich. He left home, left his parents and his sister, his friends and his rugby club, and journeyed 800 miles to England alone. He saw this route with remarkable clarity and a willingness to escape his comfort zone. Rugby, though, was not his chief motivation.
“I never had the goal or ambition to become a professional rugby player,” Todaro says. “I always loved doing my extras, always stayed longest on the pitch or in the gym and tried to improve as much as I could. I loved it, but I never saw it as a career.
“I went to England using my rugby to gain a new life experience. It was a good opportunity to learn more English, make some new friends in another country. That was going to make me a better man. I wanted something new in my life. I’d been locked down for nearly two years.”
Todaro’s mother, Silvia, had already instilled the importance of learning English. She’d lived in the United States for a time and knew the language would open up opportunities for her kids. The tutoring she’d put Todaro through was scant preparation for the machine-gun volleys from the locals.
“As an Italian speaking English at home I was one of the best among my friends, but that was completely different,” Todaro says. “I could hold a conversation but that didn’t mean I could study in it. In Italy, we are not the best English speakers as a country.
Try scorer. Try provider. Player of the Match.
All in a day’s work for Edoardo Todaro in his East Midlands derby debut 🤌 pic.twitter.com/OamT1OsUJp
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) October 11, 2025
“The first few months, picking up on the slang, the British way of talking fast. Sometimes when people would ask me something I would just say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ because asking them to repeat themselves three times, you just had to accept it. I had no clue what was going on.”
At some point, rugby crystallised as a tangible possibility. Passion could one day become profession. Todaro was already playing a year up from his age grade. His friends had been caught in the RFU talent drag net and were clambering up Northampton Saints’ performance pathway.
“Surely if they were playing, I could as well,” he says. “I didn’t think it was going to happen for me at first. I got selected for a trial two months into my Year 10 season and from there, I got into the system.”
These past six months, Todaro’s trajectory jerked sharply upwards. A dynamic, aggressive and skilled centre, he shone for Italy’s U20s in the Six Nations and at a home World Rugby Championship while still 18. He returned late to Northampton’s pre-season fearing he may have fallen behind his peers.
I couldn’t believe it. I was like, oh my god, I’m playing against one of the best wingers in England and I’ve never played wing. Will I be at the same level?
Phil Dowson had other ideas. He gave Todaro his professional debut, out of position, on the wing, in the Prem Cup.
“I got told on the Tuesday,” Todaro recalls. “The whole month before I was playing centre or full-back in Italy so I didn’t have much time to get used to wing.
“If you know how to play rugby, if you know your way around – I’ve played 12, 13, full-back, 10 – that helped me learn and know what a winger should do. I’m not perfect, I’ve only played there a couple of months, but knowing what a centre or a full-back wants from a winger helps me out. I’m a different winger to others; I can do different things.”
Dowson knew what he had and liked what he saw. A week later, Todaro played his first Prem match opposite Manny Feyi-Waboso, England’s game-breaker back from injury and intent on maximum destruction. Feyi-Waboso scored twice. So did Todaro. The young pup dazzled in a see-sawing draw.
“Crazy week,” he says. “Not an average player I was opposite. I couldn’t believe it. I was like, oh my god, I’m playing against one of the best wingers in England and I’ve never played wing. Will I be at the same level? But I had great players around me. I had been training well. It always gets you the night before when you go to bed, the chills in the morning, but everyone gave me the confidence to go in. I was ready.”
Todaro has kept his place in the Saints back three. Not just kept it, but made it his own. The 19-year-old has scored four tries, is second in the league for line breaks and tackle breaks, and fourth for running metres. This week, he was shortlisted for the Prem’s player of the month award for October.
Todaro has scored four tries in five Gallagher Prem appearances and is near the top of several attacking metrics (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
“I can beat defenders,” he says. “I can be dangerous. I’ve been working on getting more involvements in the game. We play some really good rugby at Saints and as a new guy that really helps me. It’s fun to play, all the movement.
“There is a genuine connection between the boys. The biggest challenge for someone new is to get them involved and make them feel part of the squad. Everyone tries to make it look like a local rugby club – not at the highest level, but where it’s more fun – and we try to mix that with rugby of the highest level.”
Todaro speaks with quiet assuredness. He plays with the intensity of a lion. For as long as he can remember, he has relished the biggest games, the most hostile crowds. Dowson has likened him already to Henry Pollock.
“One of the first conversations I had with Henry, he asked me which Saints academy house I was staying in,” Todaro says. “He told me, ‘don’t worry, you’re gonna buy one next year’. Oh right, this guy is full of confidence. He knows what he is doing. Everyone can tell that. He has been an inspiration because he goes out on the big stage and he delivers.
I remember one derby, I gave a bit to the crowd when we scored, then I gave it large when I made a last-minute kick to draw level,
“People call what I have confidence, but I am quite stressed in the week of a game. What if this happens, what if I don’t play well? It all cancels out when I get on the pitch. It all goes away, it’s me playing rugby with the boys, doing my thing.
“I love playing in front of a crowd as well. That helps me. Even if it’s away, I love it. When I was playing derbies at school I would hope there were some people watching. I remember one derby, I gave a bit to the crowd when we scored, then I gave it large when I made a last-minute kick to draw level.”
If Silvia Todaro was the family’s linguistic supervisor, Gianluigi was its sports master. Todaro’s father is the true rugby obsessive in the hosue. He introduced his son to the game and will be utterly beside himself on Saturday night when Todaro, named on the bench, gets his first taste of international action against Chile.
“My dad watches every session, every game… he pretty much knows more than me about the players. He loves it when people message him on Instagram about things I’m doing. He is really proud. He is the one who introduced me to the game. If I wanted to do some extra passing or tackling or catching, he was there to help. He always wanted me to get better.
“My parents have been at every single U20 game I’ve played. When I found out I was playing this weekend, I put it on the family group chat straight away while I was on the bus to training. We had a called at night and it was quite emotional. They were so happy.”
Todaro is set for his Italian debut off the bench against Chile on Saturday (Photo by Timothy Rogers/Getty Images)
For all his precociousness and all his drive, Todaro could never have imagined so rapid a climb. From age-grade rugby in July, he is poised to become the youngest Italian debutant since the iconic Sergio Parisse in 2002.
“It was never in my short-term plans,” he says. “It was a goal, but not in the near future.
“It’s been quite mental. I’ve only played six professional games and now I’m playing my first game for my country. When I think about it, it’s like, ‘woah, that’s impossible’. This time last year I was hoping just to play for Bedford Blues a couple of times and play Prem Cup. Now I’m playing for Italy.”