Parisse was handed a baptism of fire when he made his Italy debut in a 64-10 hammering at the hands of New Zealand in 2002, but the highly-rated No.8 has quickly established himself as one of Italy’s key players. The Argentina-born player joined the Bergamasco brothers at Stade Francais in 2005, after three years at Benetton Treviso. Played in all Italy’s 2007 World Cup games. Now he's the Italy captain.