Sergio Parisse

Sergio Parisse (Italian pronunciation: [ˈsɛrdʒo paˈrisse]; born 12 September 1983) is an Italian rugby union player. He currently plays for French club Toulon and is the current captain of Italy. Parisse is Italy's most-capped player, and currently 3rd most-capped player worldwide. He was the first Italian rugby union player to be nominated for the IRB International Player of the Year, first in 2008 and again in 2013. Parisse is widely considered one of the greatest number eights of modern rugby.

Sergio Parisse
Birth nameSergio Francesco Antonio Parisse
Date of birth (1983-09-12) 12 September 1983
Place of birthLa Plata, Argentina
Height1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Weight113 kg (17 st 11 lb; 249 lb)[1]
Rugby union career
Position(s) Number Eight, Flanker
Current team Toulon
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2002–2003 Universitario de La Plata ()
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2003–2005
2005–2019
2019–		 Benetton Treviso
Stade Français
Toulon		 64
265
7		 (55)
(238)
(5)
Correct as of 14 December 2019
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2002–2019 Italy 142 (83)
Correct as of 4 October 2019

Early life

Parisse was born in La Plata, capital of Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Italian parents. In addition to Italian, Parisse speaks Spanish, French and English.

Career
Sergio Parisse jumps to catch an up and under during a warm up session in Toulouse

Parisse played junior rugby divisions and his first senior division for Club Universitario de La Plata, at La Plata city.[2]

In 2003 he joined Benetton Rugby, which won the Italian Top12 twice. In 2005 he moved to Stade Français.

Parisse debuted at the Italy national team in 2002.

Though Italy failed to make it beyond the pool stage of the 2007 Rugby World Cup, Parisse played well.

Parisse continued his form into the 2008 Six Nations Championship. Parisse won his 50th cap for Italy against England in the 2008 Six Nations Championship at the age of 24. Parisse is also the Italian captain, appointed in 2008 by Nick Mallett in place of Marco Bortolami. In September 2008 Parisse was nominated for IRB International Player of the Year[3] alongside Dan Carter, Ryan Jones, Shane Williams and Mike Blair.

Parisse missed most of the 2009–10 Top 14 season with a serious knee injury that ruled him out of the 2010 Six Nations Championship.[4]

Parisse captained Italy in the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. Italy finished third in their group, one place short of qualification, after two losses against Australia[5] and Ireland on top of their two wins against USA and Russia.[6] Parisse scored a total of two tries at the tournament.

He captained Italy in the 2012 Six Nations Championship.[7] Italy had a mixed championship with losses against France, Wales, England and Ireland but also victory against Scotland to avoid the wooden spoon.[8] Parisse again captained Italy for the 2013 Six Nations Championship.The campaign started very well for the Italians when they beat France for only the second time ever, with Parisse himself scoring a try.[9] The following week Italy lost 33–10 to Scotland in an underwhelming performance at Murrayfield.[10] Parisse missed Italy's match with Wales on 23 February 2013 due to abusing a referee in a club game with Stade Francais.[11] Italy struggled without their captain and lost 26–9.[12] Parisse returned for Italy's next game against England and despite England being massive favourites Italy put in a competitive display to only lose by seven points, 18–11.[13]

In the last week of the championship Italy beat Ireland for the first time ever in a competitive match on a margin of 22–15[14] making it one of Italy's most successful Six Nations ever.[15]

Style of play

Parisse is known for having many qualities, most notably his famous passing skills. Parisse is rare in having the ability to pass accurately without looking. This was highlighted by Parisse's behind-his-back pass against New Zealand.[16][17] Other passing skills he possesses include quick offloads and passing the ball under his legs, which he has done on many occasions including against France and South Africa.[18][19]

Sergio also regularly uses dummying, cut and switch and pop-passing. Other qualities include; a good catcher of the high ball, powerful ball-carrier, good receiver line-out option and impressive footwork.[20]

Honours

Personal life

He is a keen skier, but has done it less often after teammate Sylvain Marconnet broke his leg skiing in 2007.

Parisse married Miss France 2006 and Miss Europe 2006 Alexandra Rosenfeld in early 2010. They got married in Hérault where Rosenfeld is from.[21] The couple's first child, a daughter named Ava, was born on 23 August 2010 in Béziers. Rosenfeld and Parisse divorced in April 2013. Parisse married Silvia Bragazzi in 2014. Parisse has appeared on Dieux du Stade on numerous occasions.[22]

References
  1. "Sergio PARISSE". Stade.fr. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  2. "Parisse se sumó a la campaña por el quincho". El Día. La Plata, Argentina. 1 March 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  3. Archived 5 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Meadows, Mark (26 November 2009). "Italy's Parisse ruled out by serious knee injury". Reuters. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
  5. "Rugby World Cup 2011: Australia 32–6 Italy". 11 September 2011 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  6. "Rugby World Cup 2011 Pool C: Italy 53–17 Russia". 20 September 2011 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  7. "Six Nations: France 30–12 Italy". 4 February 2012 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  8. "Six Nations: Italy 13–6 Scotland". 17 March 2012 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  9. "Italy v France". ESPN scrum.
  10. "Scotland v Italy". ESPN scrum.
  11. "Six Nations 2013: Banned Sergio Parisse misses Italy v Wales game". 20 February 2013 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  12. "Italy v Wales". ESPN scrum.
  13. "England v Italy". ESPN scrum.
  14. "Italy v Ireland". ESPN scrum.
  15. "Parisse savours Italy's best ever finish after Azzurri secure famous victory over Ireland". Daily Mail. London.His try against England at Twickenham in the 2015 RBS Six Nations was his 13th international try on his 110th cap.
  16. gazzetta, 17 November, 2012 Archived 20 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  17. admin. "Sergio Parisse superbe behind the back pass in Italy – All Blacks 2012 – The Coup Magazine".
  18. "South Africa 44 Italy 10: Italian rallying tests hosts". HeraldScotland.
  19. ESPN,South Africa power past Italy, 8 June, 2013 Archived 27 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  20. "Parisse is quite possibly the best player in the world and his sights are set on England". Mail Online.
  21. "HugeDomains.com - FillMedia.com is for sale (Fill Media)". www.hugedomains.com.
  22. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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