ANATOMY OF A RUGBY SUPERSTAR

SERGIO PARISSE

Position: No 8. Age: 33. Caps: 125. Height: 6ft 5in. Weight: 17st 9lbs. HANDS

For a back-row, he remains one of the best passers of the ball around. Check out how he flicked the ball around his back and into the arms of a team-mate, taking two defenders out in the process, against France in Paris last weekend as evidence. He has made 45 carries with ball in hand so far in the Six Nations — more than any other Italian player.

BRAIN

One of the fastest thinkers on a rugby pitch who uses his brain to make snap decisions as Italy captain. With so many inexperienced players in the Italian ranks, he needs a razor-sharp mind to make sure the team stick to their game plan. He also has to store up so much information given to him by Italy head coach Conor O’Shea before he even sets foot on the pitch. Among the most mentally-strong players in world rugby, he has huge focus from first whistle to last.

EYES

Parisse has fantastic vision and is always looking to play the unexpected pass. Some would say he must have eyes in the back of his head because of his ability to be aware of everything that is going on around him. He is eagle-eyed when it comes to the scrum, where he is well versed in the dark arts of stealing the ball within a split second.

ARMS

Uses them expertly to wrap them round his opponents in the tackle (left). For all the physicality in his game, he has hardly picked up a yellow card for club or country and is the epitome of the hard, but fair, player. When he is on form, defensively, nobody will get past him.

CORE STRENGTH

Incredibly strong at the breakdown, with an ability to contort his body into all sorts of positions to steal the ball on the ground. He is also very good at the scrum, where he takes up good body position and then uses his core strength to push him forward.

LEGS

His pace comes from his father, also called Sergio, who used to play on the wing for the L’Aquila club and won the 1967 Italian championship with them. He loves coming into the line and, although he has scored 15 tries for his country, he has never yet crossed the whitewash against Scotland. Hopefully he won’t break his duck on Saturday.

FEET

They take a real pounding through all the hard yards he runs in a match. One of the hardest workers in world rugby, it is a given he will play the full 80 minutes for Italy unless he gets injured. He may have made only three clean breaks but that is still more than any other Italian player in the Six Nations. Always among the first to be on the shoulder of a team-mate in attack.