Italy
Parisse leads backlash against Italian rugby president Gavazzi
ESPN Staff
April 18, 2015
Sergio Parisse
Sergio Parisse© Gabriel Buoys/AFP/Getty Images

Italy captain Sergio Parisse has called for respect after Federazione Italiana Rugby president Alfredo Gavazzi labelled the team "pensioners".

Gavazzi lamented Italy's form which has seen them drop to 15th in the world rankings and said he was "fed up of the pensioners" in the Azzurri's team. He also said "it's not my fault they are 15th in the world".

The players, understandably irked by this outburst, took to Twitter to hit back at the president's claims. Parisse, the Italian captain, tweeted following the comments with the hashtag #portacirespetto (give us respect).

Various Italian players followed suit: Marco Bortolami, Luca Morisi, Robert Barbieri, Leonardo Ghiraldini, Alessandro Zanni, Tommaso Allan, Luke McLean, Luciano Orquera, Giamba Venditti, Kelly Haimona, Martin Castrogiovanni and Edoardo Gori.

© ESPN Staff

Live Sports

Communication error please reload the page.