Gregor Townsend’s role in ‘obsessive’ Sergio Parisse’s Italy return
Italy legend Sergio Parisse and an inset of Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend.
Sergio Parisse sought counsel from an unexpected source before making his decision to return to Italy and join Gonzalo Quesada’s coaching team.
The legendary number eight will leave RC Toulon at the end of the current season to return to the set-up he knew so well as a player.
It’s been a year-long courtship from Quesada’s part, with the Italian head coach initially reaching out in December 2024, but the Azzurri great was not ready to make the move just yet for two reasons: He wanted to gain more experience as a coach, and he wanted to honour his contract with Toulon.
Reaching out to Gregor Townsend
He believes that the timing is now right with the Rugby World Cup around the corner, but he didn’t make the decision without doing some due diligence.
Realising that his new job would be a different challenge, he reached out to Scotland boss Gregor Townsend, who has gone through a similar transition from playing to club coach to international coach.
“Gregor explained to me that Test rugby is a different game from a coach’s lens,” Parisse recalled in an exclusive interview with Planet Rugby.
“He reminded me you have a lot more time to think about things. You’re coaching ten to twelve games a year as opposed to twenty-eight to thirty-six in the Top 14.
“So you really have time to develop your own learning and the learning of the players around you.”
Eager to get stuck in
A self-professed obsessive, Parisse is looking forward to the challenge of being an assistant coach at the highest level.
“You need a lot more detail, and it’s very much about quality over quantity, something that appeals to me,” he continued.
“I have always obsessed over skill and mental detail, and this gives me a chance to develop that further. It’ll be very full on, very intense, but throughout my career, I’ve always been somebody that wanted to improve my knowledge and really wanted to understand.”
Meanwhile, Quesada is eager to link up with the former Stade Francais captain again.
“Sergio was a great player, a role model for Italy and all the teams he played for,” he said in a statement from the FIR.
“He was my captain at Stade Francais, together we won a Bouclier de Brennus and a Challenge Cup, I know his qualities as a man and a sportsman, and the level of commitment he puts into everything he does.
” I know he can’t wait to give his contribution to our staff and the national team, and it’s wonderful that someone who has meant so much to Italian rugby is returning to his home country: he will add his professionalism and experience to a staff that already has great human and professional qualities. In the coming weeks we will also finalise the position of the new scrum coach, so we can have a complete team for the start of this summer’s Nations Championship.”
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