My Life in Rugby: Roland de Marigny – former Italy, Leeds, Calvisano, Bangor and Natal Sharks full-back

For me not facing down the Haka hurt more than the result when Italy played New Zealand in our opening match at RWC 2007. Our coach Pierre Berbizier came up with the idea, which was backed by captain Marco Bortolami, and the squad was split 50:50 as to whether to support them or not.
To be so divided 12 hours before kick-off against the world’s best team was hardly ideal preparation! I thought it was not only a bad idea but disrespectful to one of the traditions of the game. Not many people get to play the All Blacks and face the Haka and it hurts me to this day that I was denied the chance. Whatever we were trying to achieve clearly did not work as we were beaten 76-14 and left the field suitably embarrassed.
Making the World Cup squad in the first place capped a memorable year for me on a personal level. Spending the 2006/07 season in England with Leeds had helped to develop my game massively after five seasons of club rugby in Italy. I never expected to play as much as I did (20/22 Premiership games, 93 points) with so many quality players like Iain Balshaw in the squad, and whilst results did not go our way, and we were relegated, I felt I played some of the best rugby of my career in the UK.
I returned to Italy a rejuvenated and more professional player and ended up winning the Italian Championship (Super 10) with Calvisano. I would go as far as saying that that season in Leeds helped save my career. It won me a recall to the Italian national side in 2007, two years after winning my ninth cap in February 2005.
We finished fourth in that season’s Six Nations, after beating Scotland at Murrayfield – the first time we’d won away in the Championship – and then Wales at home. The Scotland game was incredible, we were 21-0 up before anyone had time to catch their breath. I scored my one and only international try when we were well beaten by Ireland.
All in all, I played ten tests for Italy in 2007. As venues go, the Parc des Princes wasn’t a bad one for my 19th and final appearance for the Azzurri: a 31-5 win against Portugal. Having beaten Romania earlier in the tournament, we went into our final pool game against Scotland knowing that a repeat of our Six Nations win would see us through to the knockout stages. Unfortunately Chris Paterson had his kicking boots on again and we lost 18-16.
When I reflect on my playing days, a lot happened very quickly. By the age of 20 I’d spent six months overseas in North Wales at Bangor RFC, sat on the bench in a Super 12 final (for Natal Sharks v The Blues), appeared in the Northern Transvaal side that beat the British Lions 35-30, the only provincial side to do so that year, and picked up a 1998 Currie Cup winner’s medal with the Blue Bulls.
Shortly afterwards my journey took me to Italy where I only planned to stay for a year or two. It started off incredibly well with me winning the 2001/02 Super 10 Player of the Year award whilst at Overmach Rugby Parma.
Fifteen years on I’m still here and married with three children aged six and under. At the moment I’m taking some time out from the game to spend it with my family. A lot has happened very quickly, not only as a player but as a coach too.
On hanging up my boots in 2010, I’ve become a Level 4 coach and held several coaching jobs both at club and international level. I spent four years working as head coach at the Italian Federation’s academy, implementing some of the ideas I learnt off Phil Davies and Stuart Lancaster at Leeds, and most recently as attack coach of Zebre in the Pro12.