"Flaminio is a very attractive stadium for Italian rugby to play in and also for other teams to come to. It's good for international rugby when you've got Paris, Rome, London etc," said Nick Mallett, as reported by Reuters.
The north of the country is Italian rugby’s heartland. Mallett said he was still surprised at the level of interest in the November 14 clash with the All Blacks.
"That has been an incredible achievement for Italian rugby and it shows what a strong brand New Zealand are," he said.
"Arguably South Africa are the best side in the world but for an Italian, the All Blacks for some reason have managed to build this brand. Jonah Lomu must have something to do with it.
"I don't think rugby has ever had a crowd like this. We took a bit of a risk given the size of the stadium but it's really worked out well."
