Six Nations
Luke McClean defends Sergio Parisse's decision to kick
Tristan Barclay
February 6, 2016
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Italy fullback Luke McLean has defended the decision of his captain -- and Italy No. 8 -- Sergio Parisse to attempt a dropped goal at the death as Italy narrowly lost to France in Paris.

The Azzurri were two points down and camped inside French territory as the fulltime hooter sounded. Despite being in possession, however, Parisse opted to kick for goal himself rather than set up the lurking Kelly Haimona -- a more recognised kicker than the 112kg back-rower.

McLean, who came on as a second-half substitute, insisted Parisse was within his rights to go for the points himself and even revealed the 32-year-old practices his shots at goal in training.

"It's something he trains for, but in the heat of the moment, it's just something that happens," McLean told ESPN. "It's one of those things that, when it doesn't go in, everyone can sit there and say 'if only, we could have sat there and had one more pick and go'.

"But you never know. We could have been penalised, or gone through another 10 phases and had someone else to kick it, who then ends up missing it. We probably should never have put ourselves in that situation anyway. If we'd played a bit better and managed to limit them to two tries, or given away a few less penalties -- that's something we should look at rather than what happened at the end."

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Parisse was absent for much of last year's World Cup and, although Italy performed largely as expected in exiting the pool stage with two victories and two defeats, his absence from the side was keenly felt from a squad that looks to him for leadership.

McLean hailed the return to action of the captain but insisted the Italy squad has enough deputies to fill in for Parisse when the talisman is unfit for duty.

"Sergio played well today," McLean said. "Our whole pack played well. They were really effective at the set-piece and around the field. There's a good leadership group and a lot of boys with a fair bit of experience. Obviously his leadership is something we all go to, but it's a team effort. We all have to take on our own responsibility."

Italy's starting XV featured four debutants as head coach Jacques Brunel was forced to cope with a lengthy injury list, but the new-look side gave France a shock at the Stade de France. The last meeting between the two nations was a 32-10 victory for France at the World Cup and McLean insisted the Italians were looking to make a clean break from the past.

"The World Cup seems like a lifetime ago now and the team's changed a fair bit as well," McLean said. "If you look at the fact France probably dominated us at the World Cup when we played them, you can say there has been some progress there. But it's a different squad that we've put out, so it's a different context in judging one team from another."

Next up for Italy are Eddie Jones' England in Rome and, despite running France close in Paris, McLean insisted Italy were just taking each game as it comes -- even if they hope to prove wrong those writing them off as underdogs.

"If you start saying 'we want to win one game, or two games', you're getting too far ahead of yourself. We've already been written off at the start of this Six Nations, which is quite standard, but we're going to keep fighting through and picking up victories when we can."

© Tristan Barclay

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