The Blues hooker prefers a more standard coffee order.
He has enough excitement to look forward to this weekend, as the former Otago under-19 captain has a Super Rugby final to play.
The Blues will host the Chiefs at Eden Park tomorrow night.
It is Riccitelli’s second final. He won a title with the Hurricanes in 2016, but that felt like a long time ago to him and he was "so young".
This time, he has more than 100 Super Rugby caps under his belt and he knows his
role.
The 29-year-old moved to Auckland in 2022 and has established himself as a no-nonsense, reliable performer.
There was an edge to finals week, he said.
"But you’ve got to keep things simple, not change much and focus on what got you here."
The title is always the end goal, but there are other motivating factors.
Tomorrow’s game will be the last time some of the players turn out for the Blues and there is a desire to play well for them and send them off as champions.
"It adds that little bit more passion. And obviously finals footy is a different level of intensity, but we know that and we’ve prepared accordingly."
Riccitelli clocked more then 70 games for the Hurricanes but made the decision to shift north to Auckland and join the Blues in 2022.
"It took me a while to get used to Auckland. It is amazing how much bigger it is than even Wellington. But once you get used to it and stop using Google maps as much, it is a real cool city."
His rugby journey got a bit of a kickstart while he was in Dunedin studying geology. He played for the Southern club and also captained the Otago under-19 team.
Riccitelli was on Otago’s radar and had done some training with the Highlanders. But he was lured north to Hawke’s Bay by the likes of Ash Dixon, Richard Buckman and Gareth Evans.
He spent two years with the Bay before signing with Taranaki.
Riccitelli made the New Zealand team that won the world under-20 championship, and the following year he won a title with the Hurricanes.
