Parisse wants a win to come from the heart
Loosehead Lo Cicero will be playing his 103rd and final Test today in Rome having announced he will retire at the end of the season and the soon to be 37-year-old Racing Metro front rower was in tears yesterday as Parisse paid tribute to him during a pre-match press conference.
It is just the sort of emotion the Italian captain and No.8 is hoping will fire his side to a first Six Nations win over Ireland since the Azzurri joined the championship in 2000 and after a victory in Rome on the opening weekend against France as well as a valiant defeat last Sunday to England at Twickenham, the omens are good for the home side.
“We arrive in this match fresh because we’ve had some good training sessions, not really intense, but I hope at the end of the match when we feel a little bit tired we’re going to think about all the things we’ve done in this Six Nations,” Parisse said.
“Having all the stadium pushing behind us and one of the players who’s going to play his last match in an Italian jersey is one of the motivations for all the team. So from a physical point we’re going to feel tired after the match but we’re going to leave nothing to the Irish. We’re going to try to do our best to win the match.”
On Lo Cicero’s last game, Parisse added: “One of the motivations for the team in trying to beat Ireland is, for sure, to finish the Six Nations well for all the supporters, because every time we play here we have a full stadium, and every time they’re behind the team. But also for Andrea because it’s his last match in the Italian jersey. I think every one wants to give to him a nice memory about his last match.
“We started the Six Nations with a win here against a big team and we’re going to play against France and Ireland in a couple of years in the World Cup so in this Six Nations we can send a good message for those two teams we’re going to play in two years. So we want to have a good result.”
Parisse, who returned from a suspension to lead Italy in their spirited 18-11 defeat by England six days ago, insisted Ireland’s loss of Jonny Sexton at fly-half would not change his side’s approach but nor was he complaining about his absence.
“I don’t think it’s going to change a lot for us. From the Italy point of view, we prepare for the game the same way we would if Jonny Sexton was in because we respect this Irish team a lot and we think they’ve played good rugby in this tournament and for us playing against them is going to be a very, very difficult match.
“Jonny Sexton is one of the best No.10s at this moment in Europe so if he doesn’t play, for sure, for us it’s good news, but I don’t think it’s going to change us.
Parisse also paid tribute to Brian O’Driscoll, who could be playing his final game for Ireland this afternoon, should he decide to retire at the end of the season.
“When you talk about Ireland and rugby, you can’t not talk about Brian O’Driscoll. He’s one of the best centres in the history of the game. This will be his final match in Rome and he will want to finish with a win.
“I wish him luck in the rest of his life, but he has done a lot of things for Ireland and rugby. For me when I think about a centre, I think about Brian O’Driscoll over all the rest.”
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