BRENDAN GALLAGHER
RUGBY MATTERS

YOU can’t keep a good man down. Sergio Parisse has not been on our radar for a while and a possible stage-managed exit from big-time rugby was becoming a rather unbecoming saga.
Firstly, the weather gods put paid to a high-profile farewell at RWC2019 in Italy’s final pool game against New Zealand. Then came Covid and de facto retirement from Test rugby with national bubbles having to move as one during the 2020 and 2021 Six Nations.
There was half-hearted talk of trying to stage manage a one-off comeback in Rome for one of the games but this s...