IN a glorious international career spanning 16 years, Sergio Parisse has been beaten by some of the best teams in world rugby, writes Stewart Fisher. So it is a feather in the cap of Gregor Townsend and his team when the veteran world class back row forward says that the Scotland team which he will face at the Stadio Olimpico today are the best he has ever faced.
In his 134th cap, Gregor Townsend’s side have it in their power to inflict his 100th defeat, a harsh fate for a player of such prowess. While the 34-year-old, born in La Plata, Argentina, will be as formidable as ever today, he feels Scotland are no longer the vulnerable outfit they once were. “Everyone has seen how Scotland at playing in this moment,” said Parisse. “They have had a great Six Nations after beating France and England. They missed a lot of chances to beat an Ireland side that have won the championship.
“So for us, they are a team that is no longer the Scotland team of five six years ago who were the team to beat. Tomorrow is a big challenge for us and the most difficult game we’ve played at home this season.
“This is just one game so it’s not about targeting Scotland. We have one Six Nations game left at home and we’re targeting that, not because it’s Scotland.”
Parisse makes light of his lengthy litany of losses - including four already during this campaign. In fairness, no fewer than eight of the top ten
“Losing is never great but I’m really proud of how the team has reacted after these games because it is easy to mentally switch-off when you lose so many games,” he added. “But we’ve reacted really well and we know what we have to do to be more competitive.”
Under the charge of Irish coach Conor O’Shea, a new generation of Italian talent is coming through in the standard bearers like back row forward Sebastian Negri and full back Matteo Minozzi. Jake Polledri, the Gloucester back row, makes his debut.
“We started a process two years ago to make us better and it involves the two franchises Treviso and Zebre,” said Parisse. “They are both performing really well.We know that is not enough though.
“If you look at a team like Glasgow how they have performed the last three or four years and that is based on a programme that was put in place a lot of years ago. Now they are getting big results. You are an example of how a union can achieve good results by respecting and having confidence in a system. Everyone is happy for you but hopefully you don’t get a win here in Rome.”
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