10 things you didn’t know about Sergio Parisse

He was born in La Plata, capital of Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Italian parents. 

In addition to Italian, Parisse speaks Spanish, French and English.

Parisse is Italy's most-capped player, and currently 3rd most-capped player worldwide with 142. He also appeared for his country at five Rugby World Cups, which is a also record.

He is currently married to Silvia Bragazzi, who is his second wife. They have a son.

He also has another daughter, Ava who was born in 2010, with ex-wife Alexandra Rosenfeld.

He was a keen skier, but has done it less often after teammate Sylvain Marconnet broke his leg skiing in 2007. He's also a keen chef.

He's often modelled on the side of his rugby career.

In football he supports Inter Milan in Serie A along with the Italian national team.

H holds the record for most international defears with 106 losses. Martin Castrogiovanni is a long way behind in second on the list with 88 – and it is perhaps not surprising that Italians occupy 11 of the ‘top’ 12 places on the list given their exposure to regular top-tier opposition since they joined the Six Nations party in 2000.

He shared a video of himself playing when he was a teenager – and it’s fair to say he was already wrecking havoc.

Parisse has been twice nominated for the prestigious World Rugby Player of the Year award, losing to Welsh speedster Shane Williams in 2008 and All Blacks icon Kieran Read in 2013. To date, he's the only italian to be nominated.