Colossus Parisse still in thrall to national service
Italy’s No 8 is postponing thoughts of retirement to help coach Conor O’shea, writes Ben Coles
For all Sergio Parisse’s greatness, and he has been rightly renowned as one of the world’s premier No8s for well over a decade, there is a noticeable blot on his record.
When the 34-year-old eventually does retire from international duty, presumably after the 2019 Rugby World Cup, he will do so having lost more matches than any other player in Test history, the unfortunate price Parisse has had to pay for carrying the Azzurri on his back throughout his international career.
Parisse has been left searching for positives after 95 of his 129 caps, forever the standout performer in a side lacking similar players. There have been famous victories over Ireland and France in the Natwest Six Nations, only for Italy to fall short of backing them up.
Head coach Conor O’shea’s overhaul of the Italian structure is still in its early stages – raising the side’s alarmingly poor fitness levels was his first objective – although Parisse had seen enough after O’shea’s arrival to be convinced that he should hold off retirement and hang around until the next Rugby World Cup in Japan next year.
Noteworthy improvements from both Zebre and Treviso this season in the Pro 14 have suggested the tide is turning. The tragedy is that Parisse will not be around in a few years’ time to enjoy the results of a long-term project, as O’shea and his coaching staff search for a talismanic successor.
Gloucester’s Jake Polledri and Giovanni Licata of Zebre, a part-time policeman, are dynamic back rows with huge potential, while Licata’s club team-mate Renato Giammarioli has only one cap but may prove to be the heir to Parisse’s No8 shirt.
“We’re building a team, and since Conor took over we’re trying to move things forward,” Parisse explains. “The franchises are doing well, especially Benetton [Treviso], but we know that every single round will be tough.
“I’m really confident with the way we’re working. Sometimes if you don’t get the results it can knock your confidence, but my job and Conor’s job is to get some esteem and spirit into Italian rugby by performing as well as we can.”
That said, the sooner Italy pick up a Six Nations result the better. Since defeating Scotland two years ago at Murrayfield, the Azzurri have lost their last 12 Six Nations matches, their worst stretch since the mid-2000s, with calls for a play-off between the bottom side in the Six Nations and rising Georgia louder than ever.
Victory on Sunday against England in Rome would be a first in Test matches for Italy, the start of a schedule followed by a trio of difficult visits to Ireland, France and Wales and finished off by hosting Scotland. This year especially there are no easy fixtures to target.
“It will be a tough Six Nations for us, but we’ll try to improve with every game and fight in every single match,” Parisse admits.
“As Italy we’re not in a position to talk about winning the tournament, so our objective is to perform as well as we can in every single game.
“In the past we’ve had great moments by beating big sides, but we didn’t have continuity in our results, we’d go up and down. Our objective is not to just be competitive, but to win.”