There are three games left to play in this year’s Six Nations, each with very different implications. England and Ireland will lock horns at Twickenham in their latest hustings to determine who sets off for Japan next year as the best team this side of the equator. Wales and France will converge on Cardiff to delight, disappoint, mesmerise, madden and further confuse everything you thought you knew about them beforehand. And Scotland will beat Italy.
Probably. Yet, while the dichotomy in form between Gregor Townsend’s men at Murrayfield and on their travels provides Conor O’Shea and company a flicker of hope in a tournament that’s never been found wanting in the surprise stakes, on this occasion even that seems like wishful thinking. The visitors have won eight of the last nine times these two teams have met and one gets the sense that, whatever mental block Scotland are wrestling with outside Edinburgh, it will be conspicuous in its absence come Saturday lunchtime as they tuck into an Italy side that has failed to generate so much as a bonus point in four games.
Long gone, certainly, are the days when this fixture was the annual wooden spoon extravaganza, often decided by a Bergamasco burst here or methodical Chris Patterson kicking display there. Only one man from either of those outfits remains, however, and Scotland’s steady progress since that time has transformed Saturday’s game from a largely inconsequential mismatch into an occasion of great statistical significance.
When he leads his team out onto the pitch in Rome at the weekend, Sergio Parisse will equal Brian O’Driscoll’s record for appearances in the Six Nations (65). When he leads his beaten side back to the dressing room he will be the first man to have notched a century of defeats in test match rugby. Never will two such contrasting accomplishments be achieved in the space of the same afternoon yet never will two facts better capture the essence of Parisse’s international existence.
It was in 2002 that John Kirwan handed an 18 year-old Parisse his test debut in a 64-10 hammering at the hands of the All Blacks. He hasn’t looked back, despite the fact Italy’s prospects haven’t exactly given him much to look forward to since. By the time he was 24 Parisse had already amassed 50 caps and become the first Italian to be nominated for the IRB Player of the year. This was despite the fact his side once again found themselves at the foot of the Six Nations table. Objections were hard to find, however, because it was clear the honour was merited.
To watch Parisse play is to witness one of the game’s modern greats. A giant of a man, he is devastating in the carry and powerful in the tackle yet always capable of producing the deftest of offloads and never seeking contact if space is to be found out wide. He has the athleticism and soft hands to be an outstanding lineout option while possessing the grunt to singlehandedly infiltrate and dissolve opposition mauls. His contributions at the breakdown are resourceful while his overall work rate makes him an omnipresent force on any pitch he cares to grace.
So sustained has Parisse’s brilliance been that we are now largely desensitised to it. Against Wales last weekend, for instance, there was a moment where he anticipated a Welsh kick into the Italian 22, raced into the backfield while still facing play, plucked the ball out of the sky from above his head as he retreated and tiptoed like a ballerina to avoid going into touch. He then composed himself, threaded a thoughtful reply back down the five-metre channel and, naturally, led the chase himself. Every component of this brief contribution: the presence of mind, the physical dexterity, the calmness, the class and the sheer skillset required to pull it all off was simply beyond that which a hulking 6’5 monster should be capable.
Yet the thing about Parisse is that you’d have been more surprised had he knocked on, stumbled into touch or plonked his kick into the front row. It is a testament to the man’s greatness that his effort roused no more than a feint ripple of awe from the crowd, presumably from the small section who were unfamiliar with his particular strain of genius. For the rest of us, that’s just Parisse. That’s what he does. This is a man who has successfully landed a drop goal in test rugby. This is a man who does with regularity what other number 8s, or any position for that matter, dare not attempt in their entire careers. If you looked up to see Parisse juggling three balls in one hand, holding up an eight man drive with the other all while conducting diplomatic talks with the referee you wouldn’t raise an eyebrow.
In this context, the saddest thing about Parisse’s career presently is not the number of losses already to his name but rather how few more we might get the privilege to endure with him. At 35, Italy’s colossus of a captain won’t have too many more championships left in him and it is possible next year’s edition will be his final swan-song on the European stage before bowing out at the World Cup.
We do not know how many more defeats Parisse will suffer through before finally hanging up his boots but we do know this: You don’t get to taste a single loss in test rugby without possessing the talent to reach that stage in the first place. You don’t get to suffer a century of them without showing the consistency to keep getting selected or the resolve to keep coming back for more. As far at statistics go, this one tells only one story that reflects what each of us have been witness to over the years. For once on the international stage, no one else comes close.
By Phil Constable