Rugby World UK – August 2019

If you could have one superpower,
what would it be and why? I’d like to go
back in time, to see what it was like back
in the day. I love the movie Braveheart,
so I’d go back to then and maybe right
back to the time of Gladiator as well.
What’s your embarrassing moment on
the pitch? In one of my fi rst games for
Italy, suddenly I’m playing alongside
Sergio Parisse – a big idol of all of ours
growing up. The fi rst lineout call comes

in against Ireland and he calls it to the

back and I’m supposed to lift him. And

I completely forgot the call. He told me

to wake up and said a few other rude

things in Italian. Now I’ll never ever

forget to lift him, that’s for sure!

If your house was on fi re, what one

item would you save? It would probably

be my fi rst Italian jersey, for my fi rst cap

(v USA, 2016). Yeah, I can’t think of

anything else that would top that.

Safe landing

Negri claims a lineout

against Japan last summer

Happy faces

Kids helped by

Afrika Tikkun

“Sergio Parisse said a few rude

things to me in Italian. Now I’ll

never ever forget to lift him!”

Who would be your three dream

dinner party guests? I love sports and

I’m a massive fan of Liverpool Football

Club, so club legend Steven Gerrard

would be one of them. Then I’ll go

Will Ferrell again as he’s a good laugh.

And then someone who did a lot for

sports in Africa and a lot throughout

the world, Nelson Mandela.

Do you have any guilty pleasures?

Yeah, I’ll admit I love romantic comedies.

I’d say Nicholas Sparks all day – he’s

the author of all those romantic movies.

Do you have any hidden talents?

Maybe I’m tooting my own horn a bit

here but I’m not a bad singer. My

karaoke go-to is Save Tonight by

Eagle-Eye Cherry. Also, I’ve got a

degree in sports business management,

which some people might not know.

What would you like to achieve outside

of rugby? I’m a big family man so I

would love to settle down one day and

start a family. I would then give those

kids the best possible opportunities

in life. I’d try to do the best I can, like

my parents have done for me. n

Last song

played

Bad Liar by

Imagine Dragons

Last app

downloaded

I got Duolingo just

to help out a bit

with my Italian

Guilty

pleasure app

Football Manager.

I’m Liverpool or a

struggling team

like Sunderland

Favourite

WhatsApp group

The Benetton

group has a lot

of nonsense, or

Zimbabwean mates