Six Nations 2013: Hope springs eternal with rise of Italian Oriundi Just recall the adrenalin surge of Ireland's win over England at the 2011 Cricket World Cup, or Bangladesh's famous one-day vanquishing of Australia, to appreciate the romance of the unexpected. Italy exert their supranational appeal partly by virtue of their own exotic make-up. After all, the three most luminous stars against France - Castrogiovanni, captain Sergio Parisse and diminutive fly-half Luciano Orquera - were all of Argentine extraction, thus perpetuating the long line of South Americans of Italian descent who have returned to help the ancestral home. Together they are labelled the Oriundi, a group occupying an affectionate place in the country's culture ever since a coterie of Italian-American footballers helped them to win the 1934 World Cup. Arguably, without the flamboyant gifts of Argentina-born Mauro Camoranesi, they would not have won in 2006, either. So the test for rugby union, succinctly put, is to discover the next Italy. For more than a decade the notion has been mooted of a second-tier Six Nations, helping to deepen the continental pool of talent. Based upon the present world rankings, Europe's "B-team" division would encompass Georgia, Romania, Russia, Spain, Portugal and Belgium. Judging by the full-scale brawl that erupted this week in a World Cup qualifier between the Georgians and Belgians, confrontations between these understudies would not exactly be bereft of passion. Plus, the chasm between the top 10 ranked nations and the rest, a reality all too evident at any World Cup, could begin to be bridged. Of the six oval-ball powers-in-waiting, Spain surely harbour the greatest promise. Wednesday's El País newspaper featured a heartfelt column eulogising the prospects of Los Leones and explaining how the country could reach only their second World Cup here in 2015. Their matches remain a world away from Murrayfield or the Stade de France, as the frozen, empty stadium in Sochi that hosted their latest contest with Russia illustrated, but hopes endure that by emulating the Italian fusion of home-grown and foreign players, Spanish rugby can discover its identity in spite of football's hegemony. In all probability, there is no place for promotion and relegation at the Six Nations - where would we be without a Calcutta Cup, or a potential Grand Slam decider in Dublin? But the multiplication of fiery outsiders in the Italian mould is to be encouraged. Through the verve and audacity of their 23-18 victory, Jacques Brunel's Italy moved from the periphery to centre stage, capturing a small army of converts. The question, as always with the Italians, is whether their momentum can be harnessed, whether their dispatch of France was a beautiful aberration or a harbinger of better days to come. But it felt in the Sunday gloaming, as a pale February sun set behind the jubilant hordes in red, white and green, that the Six Nations stood on the crest of a brave, invigorating new world.