PLANNING FOR By ROB ROBERTSON
Scotland must stop Italy’s greatest-ever player, warns Beattie
IT IS not purely his stature that puts Sergio Parisse head and shoulders above his challengers. He is an icon, a hero, a man who has single-handedly carried the Italian rugby team.
He will do so once again this weekend when he leads Italy out at Murrayfield for their final fixture in this year’s Six Nations. Scotland fans should treasure the moment.
Parisse, at 33, was close to retiring from international duty until new coach Conor O’Shea persuaded him otherwise. A return to Edinburgh in two years’ time looks unlikely.
Born, intriguingly, in Argentina to Italian parents, rugby was in his blood. His father, also Sergio, played and it seemed the young man’s destiny was always in the oval-ball game.
That he has become a stand-out player, recognised as one of the world’s finest, in a team that so rarely tastes the nectar of success, tells you everything you need to know about this talismanic figure.
‘He remains one of the greatest No 8’s ever to have played the game,’ said former Scotland international Johnnie Beattie, who has locked horns with Parisse at both club and international level.
‘In France, where we both play, he is viewed 100-per-cent as a sporting superstar, a global rugby icon.
‘He is the sort of player who can inspire his team, so you can always expect a tough game against any side that Sergio Parisse is part of.
‘Scotland will be expected to win but, whatever happens, Sergio will give his all yet again and you can expect some world-class skills from him along the way.’
Beattie, currently with Bayonne, believes Parisse is as perfect a No 8 as you are likely to find, up there with All Blacks captain Kieran Read as the best in the world.
‘He has such an extraordinary talent, he always manages to do something way out of the ordinary,’ the 31-year-old Scot told Sportsmail. ‘He has all the basic building blocks of a world-class back-row player.
‘He is tough in the tackle, has great vision and is quick around the park. He is also difficult to stop. Even taken down, he can get out of it with an audacious off-load.
‘Since he started in international rugby more than ten years ago, playing in the back row has become more workmanlike and dogged.
‘Sergio can do all that stuff and still mixes it with the best when it comes to physicality, but he also has fantastic skill and he adds a bit of glamour to rugby, which people love to see. He has real flair. ‘He has skills that any back would be proud of. He has great pace, superb hands and can play a show-and-go, spin-pass. You name it, he can do it.’
The only thing that Beattie believes is the chink in Parisse’s armour is his Latin temperament.
‘It is no surprise that Scotland will target him but, as many teams have found, he is a hard man to pin down because of his huge talent,’ said the 38-times-capped Scotland international.
‘Through playing against him quite a lot, the one thing that I have noticed is that he can get quite riled, although I haven’t seen that as much in this Six Nations.
‘If things are not going his way, his Latin temperament can boil over. He can go off his game pretty quickly if things are not going well.
‘Scotland will be trying to make that happen by dragging him down, giving him no time on the ball and making sure he is given the most difficult game possible.
‘He may be 33 years old, but he is the Stade Francais captain. He still has a lot to give and will be playing at the top level for a long time yet.
‘He signed a contract extension recently to keep him at Stade Francais until 2019 and is still hugely valued in France as well as with Italy.’
The message, then, for Scotland is quite simple. Stop Parisse, stop Italy.