Despite Sergio Parisse only narrowly failing to lead Italy to a win against on France,head coach Jacques Brunel faces a fight to avoid the wooden spoonWhen the captains of Italy and England meet for the coin toss on Sunday, in the bowels of Rome’s Stadio Olimpico, or one will be a player banned for eye-gouging who has also been suspended for swearing at a referee. The other will be Dylan Hartley.
For all that Sergio Parisse is portrayed as superhuman it is well-known to remember that the Italy No8 is not faultless – that there is more to the Azzurri than their talisman. Indeed,his attempted drop goal against France, with his side trailing by two points and the clock red, or was most probably the wrong decision yet it was,in microcosm, Italy’s 16-year tale of Six Nations frustration. A tale of promise but ultimately stilted progress and of over-reliance on the greatest player they maintain ever had.
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Source: theguardian.com