Parisse and the yellow of the sixth world rugby with Italy: “Playing it would be a great thing, but someone does not agree”

The last of the Captain: an opportunity not to be missed. Sergio Parisse is a monument of our rugby, the most representative Italian player, best known and respected abroad. In blue he made his debut over twenty years ago, against the All Blacks, the farewell match should have been played at the last World Cup in Japan, again against the All Blacks, but a hurricane canceled the match which ended in a draw. Kieran Crowley’s new course has left no room for him, so a legendary career risks ending without a party, a celebration up to par. Parisse will turn 40 on 12 September, three days after Italy debuted at the World Cup in France, Sergio’s adopted country, who spent 18 years at club level between the Stade de France and Toulon. He is an athlete who is still intact, indeed decisive: next week he will be the captain of Toulon who will play the Challenge Cup final against the Glasgow Warriors. In the semifinal, among other things, with the great French club, he eliminated Benetton Treviso 23-0: almost a photocopy of the national team. At the moment Parisse doesn’t seem to be part of Crowley’s plans, who will soon issue the first squad list for the French World Cup. But Parisse himself, in an interview that will be published in the next issue of the specialized magazine AllRugby, of which we publish a preview, did not hide the hope of having a chance to wear the blue shirt one last time in a major competition. Also because it would coincide with an absolute record. “I think it would be a great thing for me to play in a sixth World Cup,” he told AllRugby. «Playing it with my country’s shirt in what is now my home, France, in front of fans who know me well, not just the French ones. That would be great and let me say it wouldn’t just be great for me personally. It would be a moment of prestige for all of Italian rugby, for our history as an oval movement and beyond, given that 6 World Cups is a goal that no athlete in the world has ever achieved so far”.

So all good, appointment at the RWC in September?
«Well, I have some doubts about this… I have the feeling that not everyone agrees about my presence in the team. Next week, I think, the first squad list will be issued, about forty players, or more, and the rumors I get are not too reassuring».
So no “Last dance”, no farewell catwalk?
«Here, I want to be very clear about this: I’ve played more than 140 games with the blue shirt, I’ve been captain for more than ten years, but I don’t want “career” awards, nor “memory” awards. I’m a player of almost forty, yes, but in full swing and next Friday, I hope, I could lift the Challenge Cup on the lawn of Dublin’s Aviva Stadium. I want to think that if I’m called up it’s for what I can still give on the pitch, not just for what I’ve been».
«This year – continues Parisse – between the cup and the Top14 (the top French league, ed) I played more than a thousand minutes, 18 games, 14 as a starter. I think I spoke with facts, I demonstrated what I can do. As a 22-year-old, I’ve averaged 23 games a season, and at nearly 40, I’ll finish very close to that figure once again. What more do I have to say…».
Let’s put it this way: someone might consider your presentation a bit cumbersome on a psychological level, in a team of young guys.
“I think differently, I think of the enthusiasm I saw in the Treviso boys when we were opponents a couple of weeks ago in the semifinal which we won 23-0. To the things they said to me after the game, to the fact that they saw me play, alas, when they were kids and I was already an established and mature athlete. I saw enthusiasm and admiration in their eyes and I think of the stimuli, experience and passion that I could pass on to them in the months of preparation for the World Cup to live together. It would be a real shame to deprive this group of such a contribution. I understand that calling me would be a strong decision, but am I wrong or is rugby a sport for strong men? Would my presence decrease the team’s chances of qualifying in a group with Namibia, Uruguay, France and New Zealand? Really that there is someone who thinks this? (…) I’ve had enough satisfaction, I’ve been playing internationally for twenty years. I don’t need more recognition. But I strongly think I want to give my contribution to Italy once again”.
What if they don’t call you?
«I think it would be a difficult thing to explain outside Italy. Sometimes we get stuck in small issues that are not good for our image and who we are. And I’m not talking about me, what I’ve done and what I’m still doing is there for all to see. I am at peace with myself, I have the support of friends, a nice family. I’ve been through difficult times, injuries, I’ve always come out of it. I believe that all of Italy would deprive itself of a great and unique opportunity to enter the history of sport. As far as I’m concerned, I control what I can control, and I continue to believe in destiny.”