MATTEO Minozzi’s withdrawal from Italy’s Six Nations squad citing the stress and dislocation of having to flit between Covid bubbles – club and country –while being expected to be a star performer for both is a timely warning of the stresses and strains many players are, manly silently, undergoing at present.
They entertain us royally but do not underestimate their efforts and the personal cost involved.
It is also, I would suggest, an indirect tribute to the remarkable Sergio Parisse, his former Italy skipper and fellow rugby itinerant. Now Parisse didn’t have...