Northern Edition
Select Edition
Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Praise heaped on Sergio Parisse for rare RWC milestone

(Photo by Getty Images)

Fans have heaped praise on Sergio Parisse as he prepares for his fifth World Cup after Italy boss Conor O’Shea named the No8 in his squad for the finals. 

ADVERTISEMENT

The 35-year-old will join an exclusive club of two other players, Samoa’s Brian Lima and compatriot Mauro Bergamasco, in playing at five World Cups. It will also be his third time captaining his country at the finals. 

Since making his debut in 2002 as an 18-year-old, Parisse has established himself as one of the modern greats of the game, being shortlisted for the World Player of the Year award in 2008 and 2013. 

Few players make such an impact on their team as the Italian does, as he has stood head and shoulders above his team-mates at times throughout his career. 

Fans on social media have been quick to praise the forward, with many acknowledging him as one of the greats of the game. 

Perhaps he has not received the recognition throughout his career from all over the world because he has not been in one of Test rugby’s high-flying nations, but there is still a huge number of fans that rate Parisse. 

This World Cup could also see Parisse become the second most capped Test player in history. He currently sits third on the list alongside George Gregan with 139 caps but could eclipse him in the remaining warm-up Tests against France and England. 

ADVERTISEMENT

https://www.instagram.com/p/B1WgodEoghb/

Should he play both warm-ups, he will be level with Ireland’s Brian O’Driscoll. However, for the No8 to level with New Zealand’s Richie McCaw, Italy would need to reach the final or third-place play-off, which is improbable. 

Nonetheless, should this be the tournament in which the Toulon-bound forward bows out of the international game, he will leave a legacy as one of rugby’s best-ever players. This is what has been said: 

ADVERTISEMENT

Italy have never progressed to a World Cup quarter-final, and with Parisse’s men set to face the All Blacks and the Springboks in Pool B, it would be a titanic upset should they manage to do so this year. Regardless of where Italy finish, playing at a fifth tournament will be a remarkable feat for the Italy skipper. 

WATCH: Episode four of the RugbyPass Rugby Explorer series where Jim Hamilton takes a trek through Italian rugby

Video Spacer

 

ADVERTISEMENT
LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

f
fl 2 hours ago
Springboks' dominance of the world rankings comes under increased threat

good comment, but ranking points being doubled during the RWC won’t actually have the effect you’re implying.


You still only lose ranking points if you’re beaten by a team that you could conceivably beat, hence why Italy lose no points when beaten by South Africa. Wales entering the RWC in 2027 in a group full of teams better than them would mean that they would lose no points, or only a very small amount of points, by being beaten, but would have the potential to drastically improve their ranking with just a single upset win.


E.g. using today’s ranking points, lets imagine Wales drew Ireland, Fiji, and Romania in their pool, losing against the first two but beating Romania, then lost to France in the R16. The worst case scenario (losing to Fiji, Ireland, and France by more than 15 points, and beating Romania by less than 15) would only lose Wales 0.66 points. The alternate scenario (coming within 15 points of Fiji and beating Romania by more than 15) would lose Wales just 0.29 points. The dream scenario of Wales securing a narrow win over Fiji would improve Wales’ score by 3.37 points, although I cba factoring in how that would impact Wales’ draw in the knockouts. Feel free to check these calculations yourself at the website called “World Rugby Rankings Calculator”, which is easily found through google but which I don’t think I can link to directly on here.


Its worth remembering that England finished 3rd at the world cup and Ireland lost in the QFs, but because England had a much easier draw than Ireland they finished the tournament ranked 5th, and Ireland 2nd. Overall the rankings do a pretty great job of fairly reflecting how well teams have played.

3 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ ‘As things stand, the Lions are a flawed entity. They need to polish up their act’ ‘As things stand, the Lions are a flawed entity. They need to polish up their act’
Search