RUGBY NEWS - Parisse spearheaded the Italian’s 20-18 win over the Springboks last year in an awful, error-ridden game that was as difficult to watch as it was to play in. But in the midst of the arm-wrestle, the Italian captain stood tall and proud, leading his side to their first win over the Springboks in history, and underlined his own legend in the process by doing so.
This year there is a nervous nature in the way the Springboks have returned to the country after the humiliation they received in Florence last year, and standing firm waiting for them is Parisse once again.
The Italian will be making his 129th appearance for his country this weekend and if there is ever a threat for Allister Coetzee and his team, it is Parisse.
Normally the Springboks wouldn’t blink twice at the challenge of the Azzurri, but after their shock last year, and the problems in their playing style that has plagued them thus far on tour, the captain looms large on his home ground this weekend.
Add to this the loss of Johan van Graan to Munster this week and Brendan Venter back home in South Africa and the Boks will be tested to perform without two of their key coaching personnel.
Forwards coach Matt Proudfoot identified Parisse as a genuine threat in his press conference on Tuesday, and said the Boks will be expecting the Italian captain to be a big threat this weekend.
“They maul very well,’ Bok forward coach Matt Proudfoot conceded on Tuesday, underlining Parisse’s leadership in upsetting the Boks in one of the few strengths of their game at the moment.
“Parisse is very intelligent,’ Proudfoot added. ‘He gets under your skin. He targets your jumper.
“They look to upset your support players with how they get numbers in on each supporter. If you can be focused on setting that maul base and absorbing that pressure, you can really push back. We did that well in the second half in Paris.”
And that is exactly where the Boks faltered in Florence last year. They were unable to get momentum, get on the front foot and lay down a basis to attack from.
Parisse was everywhere, he was a prime disrupter, he played one of the games of his life.
It is no wonder that Eddie Jones was quoted as saying he would be “one of the game’s greatest” if he played for the All Blacks.
Supersport’s analyst and former Springbok and Italy coach Nick Mallett expressed similar sentiments after coaching Parisse at both Stade Francais and Italy during his tenure in Europe.
“He is as good as any No.8 in the world," Mallett told the Scottish Herald during the Six Nations. "He plays every game for Italy as if it is the last match of his life."
