ITALIAN STALLIONS
PREPARATIONS FOR life AP – After Parisse – are well underway. It will be a wrench for many fans when the Italian great says his final farewells in Rome during this Six Nations. The No 8 has come to represent a nation’s fighting spirit.
“I don’t think he will ever be replaced,” says former France hooker turned pundit Benjamin Kayser, who played with Parisse at Stade Français and against him in the Top 14 and on the Test stage. “That doesn’t mean Italy are doomed – they’ve got some very talented blokes. It just means that he will never be totally replaced.
“He is one of those big fellas who has got the best skills I’ve seen. He is strong, has the commitment, the lineout ability. He’s got the power you expect from a big international No 8. He’s got the hands, he’s got the feet, he’s got the intelligence. And in all fairness, the balls.
“I remember playing with him at Stade. He was getting a lot of stick from Fabien Galthié, who was coach at the time, for being too flashy and trying too many things. He took him apart in a video session
