Capuozzo, Ioane, Garbisi in Top 14, Furno and Gori in Pro D2, Odiete in National… Many Italians have been crisscrossing France for years.
Before Sunday's meeting between the French XV and Italy (4 p.m.) for the Six Nations Tournament,
Le Figaro
selected – from a non-exhaustive list – five Italian players who have left their mark on the French championship.
To discover
Ranking Tournament 6 of Nations
Calendar and results 6 Nations
Sergio Parisse, like good wine (ex-Stade Français and Toulon)
Who else but the maestro.
The inevitable magician.
Arriving in 2005 at Stade Français from Treviso, Sergio Parisse became, after a few years and forever, one of the best players in the history of the French championship.
Athletic number 8 (1m96, 113 kg), powerful but above all very technical, the former Italian international (142 caps) has splashed all the lawns with his talent.
His most notable gesture remains, without a doubt, a “chistera”-style pass behind the back along the touchline for Lakafia during the Top 14 semi-final against Toulon in 2015. The year when the club from the capital also won the title of champion of France.
At 35 and in the physical shape of a 25-year-old, Parisse decides to take on a new challenge in Toulon.
Stainless.
Always at the level, he led the RCT to the Challenge Cup title in 2023 before joining, at the age of 40, the technical staff of the Var club.
Diego Dominguez, a golden foot (ex-Stade Français)
It's hard to be more elegant than Diego Dominguez.
Also born in Argentina near Cordoba, the 57-year-old former player had a long and wonderful spell at Stade Français (1997-2004).
A very talented flyhalf with a magical foot (983 points, a record for the Italian selection), he won four French championship titles with the capital club (1998, 2000, 2003, 2004).
Diego Dominguez played 120 games with the Pink Soldiers, scoring 1763 points.
His time as sports director of Toulon in 2016 did not have the same success.
But the Italian international forever marked the history of the French championship.
Dominguez and Galthié played together at Stade Français.
Jean BIBARD / FEP / PANORAMIC / Fep / Panoramic
Gonzalo Canale, discreet but essential (ex-Clermont and La Rochelle)
The former three-quarter center of Clermont is one of its discreet players, often called “in the shadows”.
But what a player and above all, what importance in the Clermontois system from 2005 to 2012... His technically perfectly and devilishly effective tackle on Toulonnais Gabiriele Lovobalavu during the anthology semi-final in Saint-Étienne (35-29 after extra time) marked the memories of Clermont forever.
Gonzalo Canale has a nice track record with Clermont.
Winner of the Top 14 in 2010, he also won the European challenge in 2007 and played in three French championship finals (2007, 2008, 2009).
The Italian international (86 caps) ended his career with La Rochelle (2012-2015).
A passage punctuated by numerous injuries.
Mauro Bergamasco, inexhaustible tackler (ex-Stade Français)
Unmissable on a field.
By his activity, of course.
But also by his physique, his long curly hair and his damaged nose.
A true pruner, Mauro Bergamasco spent most of his career at Stade Français, definitely a scout for Italian talent (from 2003 to 2011).
In his first season with the Parisian club, the third-row wing won the French champion title, even scoring a try in the final.
A club executive, he played 138 games under the pink tunic.
The Jacques Burger lookalike - a Namibian flanker with a similar physique and style - also won the French champion title in 2007.
Mauro Bergamasco, inexhaustible pruner.
N. Le Gouic / Fep / PanoramiC / Fep / Panoramic
Martin Castrogiovanni, star on and off the field (ex-Toulon and Racing 92)
He also never went unnoticed on the pitch with his “chabalesque” style but also off the pitch.
A pillar of great talent at Leicester in England, Martin Castrogiovanni arrived in France and Toulon at the best of times (2013).
Without really convincing, the Italian international (119 caps) still won a first title of French champion (2014) and that of European champion the same year, in a team made up of galactics.
In 2016 for Racing 92, he only played six small matches.
But at the end of the season, he took part in a party, without informing his club, in Las Vegas with certain PSG players including Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The latter had just won the League Cup.
An episode which logically did not please his management, who had decided to fire him.
Castrogiovanni left his mark on the French championship... but not always in the best way.
Magali Ruffato / Magali Ruffato / Panoramic
But also
: Andrea Masi, Santiago Dellape, Mirco Bergamasco, Alessandro Troncon, Andrea Lo Cicero...