Parisse lauds Italy for daring to dream
The Azzurri came from 12 points down to beat Les Bleus 22-21 in Rome for the first time in their RBS 6 Nations history.
“Since 2002, I and the rest of my team-mates have been dreaming of this moment,” Parisse said. “To win against France at home is a dream come true.
“It’s the merit of our great group and of our coach Nick Mallett.
“All Italians can be proud of what we have done. I told my team-mates that there’s no harm in dreaming and in rugby when there’s heart, will and belief, you cannot be stopped.”
Parisse, who plays his club rugby at Stade Francais, admitted his team’s attitude had changed with regard to how much respect they showed the French.
The Azzurri had gone into the game having lost their previous 11 tests against France in the tournament.
“France weren’t the team we thought we could beat ahead of the start to this tournament,” Parisse admitted.
“In the past we have respected France too much but that was not the case today.
“With five minutes remaining in the game, I looked at my team-mates and I knew we would do it.
“We were first to the ball, first to get up and tackle. We were spectacular, especially in defence.”
Italy had plenty of motivation heading into their final game in Rome after their 24-16 home loss to Wales, having previously been trounced 59-13 by England at Twickenham.
They were only beaten 13-11 by Ireland in their Six Nations opener.
“Our home defeats against Ireland and Wales were disappointing,” Parisse said. “But it was our heavy loss to England that gave us an extra motivation to show that we are a better team than our performance at Twickenham suggested.”
The win was Italy’s first in the tournament since their 16-12 victory over Scotland in Rome in February 2010.
However, Parisse has warned his team-mates not to get carried away as they look to prepare for their final test against Scotland at Murrayfield next weekend.
“We have to be humble,” Parisse said. “We cannot think that this victory will change things.
“We are well aware that the Six Nations is not over and we have to be ready for the game at Scotland, which will be a very difficult test.
“It’s going to be very, very hard to win in Scotland.”
France, meanwhile, are licking their wounds.
The defeat in Rome was the second straight setback for Marc Lievremont’s side following their 17-12 defeat against England last month.
“We must take responsibility,” France full-back Maxime Medard said. This defeat is not the fault of our coaches, who gave us the information we needed. We didn’t execute it on the pitch.
“We made too many mistakes and didn’t play the way we had to.
“We have to learn from our mistakes and focus on ending the tournament in the best possible way.”
France take on Wales at the Stade de France on Saturday.
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