The great former Italian captain, the only Italian rugby player in the Hall of Fame: “At the Six Nations with Italy we played to win it. I dream of one day coaching the national team”
A monument of Italian and world rugby at the Sports Festival. Sergio Parisse spoke about himself in a packed Geremia room. Lots of kids to hear the symbolic captain of the Italian national team, 142 appearances in blue between 2002 and 2019, the only Italian rugby player to have been included in the World Rugby Hall of Fame. Parisse began his story in 2002, when he made his debut for the national team on the tour of New Zealand. He hadn’t turned 19 yet. “John Kirwan called me up and started me against the All Blacks. I immediately called home, in Argentina, to give the news, and my father said “John is crazy”. He put his trust in guys like me, Castrogiovanni, Bortolami. We weren’t ready for that level, we learned more from two matches in the national team than in a championship season. But from that experience we built a future for ourselves, also for go and play abroad.”
unforgettable years
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Parisse told many anecdotes from those years. Like the one linked to Italy-New Zealand in 2009 at San Siro: “The bus that took us to the stadium broke down. We had to arrive by taxi, Castro and I found ourselves piled into a car. We arrived at the stadium half an hour before the match. We were already tense, imagine with this unexpected event.” Then an overview of the years in the national team, but also of the experience at the Stade Français: “I also had requests from Castres and Perpignan, they would have even given me more money, but speaking with dad I understood: it was better to try to be the best among the best. So I went to Paris”. The search for the best version of himself has always been a fixed point for the former Italian number 8: “Entry into the world Hall of Fame gave me satisfaction for this very reason, because it established my way of being a player, perhaps a third line different from all the others, who also allowed himself an underhand pass, or a drop, but who always tried to be the best version of himself.”
coaching experience
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A search for perfection that Parisse is trying to achieve and transmit as a coach today. Today he is deputy on the bench of Toulon, in France: “It’s not easy. Kids today have easy access to too many things. It’s right that they immediately have the club shirt or tracksuit or bag, but sometimes it would be good if things had to be earned.” A future in blue? “I don’t like saying things that aren’t true. So yes, the idea of one day coaching the Italian national team is a dream for me.” Finally, a look at Italy today. “All my teammates and I have always played to win the Six Nations. It has always been difficult and remains difficult, of course, but if we keep telling ourselves that it is hard, then the goal will always remain distant. Now we have a competitive national team that plays every match.”
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