Luca Bigi (born 19 April 1991) is an Italian professional

rugby union player Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

who primarily plays hooker for

Zebre Parma Zebre Parma (, meaning " Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by t ...

of the

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

. He has also represented

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

at international level, having made his test debut against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

during the 2017 Summer Internationals. Bigi has previously played for clubs such as Valorugby Emilia,

Viadana Viadana may refer to: Surname * Lodovico Grossi da Viadana (c. 1560 – 1627), Italian composer, teacher, and Franciscan friar * Gilberto Viadana (born 1973), Italian figure skater Other * Viadana, Lombardy, a town in the province of Mantua, Lom ...

Petrarca Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited w ...

, and Benetton in the past.

Professional career

Bigi was playing with

and

Petrarca Padova Petrarca Rugby is a rugby union club from Padua, Italy, currently competing in the top tier of the Italian rugby union, the Top10. Founded in 1947, the team is the rugby union branch of the Unione Sportiva Petrarca, an omnisport club that inclu ...

, when he caught the eye of the Benetton staff and signed with the

Pro12 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

side in 2015. He played with Benetton until

2018–19 Pro14 The 2018–19 Pro14 (also known as the '' Guinness Pro14'' for sponsorship reasons) is the eighteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It was the second season to be referred to as the ''Pr ...

season. In 2015 Bigi was named in the Emerging Italy squad for the 2015 World Rugby Tbilisi Cup. Bigi forced his way into the starting lineup and earned his first test call up in 2017

squad. In 2018, he impressed Italy head coach

Conor O'Shea Conor O'Shea ( ga, Conchúir Ó Sé) (born 21 October 1970) is an Irish rugby union coach and former player. He was the head coach of the Italy national team from 2016 to 2019. He played as a full back and occasionally at out-half and centre ...

, in his first season of test rugby, earning 6 Test caps for his country and earned a spot in Italy's 2018 Six Nations squad. Bigi was also named in the 2019 Six Nations squad, having had 3 previous appearances. On 18 August 2019, Bigi was named in the final 31-man squad for the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...

. In January 2020, Bigi was named ''Captain'' of

squad for

2020 Six Nations The 2020 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 21st Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland ...

in substitution of

Sergio Parisse Sergio Francesco Parisse (; born 12 September 1983) is an Italian rugby union player. He currently plays for French club Toulon and played for the Italy national team from 2002 until the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Parisse is Italy's most-capped player ...

. He was captain until 2021 Six Nations.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bigi, Luca 1991 births Living people Italian rugby union players Italy international rugby union players Rugby union hookers Sportspeople from Reggio Emilia Rugby Viadana players Petrarca Rugby players Benetton Rugby players Zebre Parma players