Ion Neculai

Ion Neculai (born 25 January 2001) is a Moldovan-born Italian professional rugby union player who primarily plays prop for Zebre Parma of the United Rugby Championship.^[1][2]

Ion Neculai

Date of birth	(2001-01-25) 25 January 2001 (age 24)
Place of birth	Chișinău, Moldova
Height	189 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	132 kg (291 lb; 20 st 11 lb)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Prop Current team Zebre Parma Youth career Rugby Club I Cavalieri Prato Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2019–2021 F.I.R. Academy () 2021– Zebre Parma 40 (5) Correct as of 31 May 2025 International career Years Team Apps (Points) 2020–2021 Italy U20 8 (15) 2021 Italy A 2 (0) 2022– Italy 3 (0) Correct as of 12 Nov 2022

Professional career

Neculai has previously played for clubs such as I Cavalieri in the past. He signed for Zebre in July 2021 ahead of the 2021–22 United Rugby Championship.^[3] He made his debut in Round 1 of the 2021–22 season against the Lions.^[4]

In 2020 and 2021 Neculai was named in Italy U20s squad for annual Six Nations Under 20s Championship.^[5] On 14 October 2021, he was selected by Alessandro Troncon to be part of an Italy A 28-man squad for the 2021 end-of-year rugby union internationals.^[6] On 30 May 2022, Neculai was selected by Kieran Crowley to be part of an Italy 33-man squad for the 2022 mid-year rugby union tests. He made his debut against Portugal.^[7][8]