PLAYER PROFILE

MAURO BERGAMASCO

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW XXXXX DECO

BERGAMASCO FACTS

^5The Bergamasco is a breed of sheep dog with its origins in the Italian Alps. Less than 100km south of the

lakes that guard the foothills of the Dolomites in the shadow of the Alps, lays Padova, the birthplace of one of the finest players to grace the Azzurri blue. Italy’s openside flanker, Mauro Bergamasco, as rugged as the Alps themselves, regularly displays qualities similar to the pedigree breed with which he shares his name. The two display vigour, confidence, a strong work ethic and enjoy the formation of strong bonds, not to mention the shaggy locks.

Mauro hails from a family steeped in rugby tradition. His father, Arturo, was capped four times in the Italian back row and his younger brother, Mirco, now has 56 caps. He made his name at Petrarca Padua then moved to Treviso in 2000 where many top European clubs tried to prise him away but he remained loyal to his studies as a sports science undergraduate. At the age of 19, French coach Georges Costa gave Mauro his first cap against the Netherlands. It was the beginning of a long and distinguished career with the Azzurri.

The fiery flanker has 65 caps and is now part of an Italian trio alongside his brother Mirco, and national captain, Sergio Parisse at Stade Francais. His dynamism and combative style make him one of the most formidable back row forwards in world rugby and he has the pace and sidestep any great winger would be proud of. When John Kirwan named him on the wing for a Six Nations fixture against Wales, he was touted to be the next Jonah Lomu. Not to be: Bergamasco happily returned to the back of a strong Italian pack but given a chance to open up his legs, defences may well cower as they once did before the great All Black.

While Mauro enjoys basking in the glory of spectacular breaks, he is a natural hunter, getting his hands dirty, sniffing around the breakdown is what he truly enjoys. Not surprising then, that he grew up worshipping Zinzan Brooke and Neil Back. He is two inches taller than the latter, and significantly heavier, but this does not prevent him from scrapping with his nose to the mud just like the great Leicester Tiger used too. Neither did it deem him unsuitable for the nickname he acquired when, as the youngest player in the Petrarca first-team, he became known as ‘gioiellino’ (little jewel). It was his talent as a flanker with the ability to play total rugby that shone. Former Lions and England coach Dick Best described him as, “an exceptional talent: he is fast, he can kick, pass, sidestep and on top of that he can do all the duties of a modern flanker.”

Four minutes into injury time of a club match for Treviso, his side trailed narrowly to Calvisano, he intercepted the ball and ran almost the length of the field. With the last line of defence closing in on him he stopped dead and slotted a drop goal to win the game. A true measure of the man’s ability.

Bergamasco is not as clean cut as his nickname may suggest. In 2007, he was banned for a month for punching Stephen Jones during Italy’s triumph at the Stadio Flaminio. A year later he was handed a 13-week ban after a citing found him guilty of gouging the eyes of Lee Byrne.

Nick Mallet believes he can still get the best out of the 29-year-old: “I think he combines athletic freshness with a desire for redemption,” he said before the Autumn internationals.

Bergamasco views himself as more of a ‘cane sciolto’, a loose, marauding dog than his sheepdog namesake. “To be a good open-side you must be a little mad,” he says. n

01/05/1979

SATDE FRANCAIS

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65

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CLASSIC SPORTS SERIES / 47