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Italy captain Sergio Parisse has been ruled out of his country’s opening World Cup game against France on Saturday. The Stade Français star suffered a deep haematoma in his calf against Wales last weekend and was forced to undergo a surgical procedure to repair the damage. After initial fears he could miss the tournament completely, Parisse has comforted fans on social media, stating that he is already moving again on the stationary bike and is targeting the second match against Canada on September 26 for a possible return to action.
The loss will seriously damage the Azzurri’s chances of upsetting Les Bleus, who were already firm favorites before the loss of Italy’s consensus best player. Samuela Vunisa looks likely to fill the void at no8, and hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini expected to act as captain for the match.
Canadian fans will have some sympathy for their Italian counterparts, with their own captain and no8 Tyler Ardron still recovering from a knee injury and in doubt for their opening match against Ireland, also on Saturday. Ardron’s injury came against Samoa in the Pacific Nations Cup, and ruled him out of the remainder of Canada’s warm-up matches. Jamie Cudmore has been standing in as captain, with Richard Thorpe and Aaron Carpenter possible substitutes at the back of the scrum.
