Mirco Bergamasco (born 23 February 1983) is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

rugby union 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 ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer. Bergamasco has played both

and

, and is a

dual-code rugby international A dual-code rugby international is a rugby footballer who has played at the senior international level in both codes of rugby, 13-a-side rugby league and 15-a-side rugby union. Rugby league started as a breakaway version of rugby in Northern Eng ...

, having played for both the

Italy national rugby union team The Italy national rugby union team (Italian: ''Squadra nazionale italiana di rugby'') represents Italy in men's international rugby union. The team is known as ''gli Azzurri'' (the light-blues). Savoy blue is the common colour of the national ...

and the

Italy national rugby league team The Italy national rugby league team represents Italy in rugby league football. With origins dating back to the 1950s and 1960s, the team has competed regularly in international competitions since 2008, when their current governing body, the Fede ...

. He primarily plays at

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

. He played in the

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

and

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...

s as well as the

2017 Rugby League World Cup The 2017 Rugby League World Cup was the fifteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup tournament and took place in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea between 27 October and 2 December 2017. The tournament featured the national teams ...

Playing career

Club career

In March 2016, Bergamasco signed with the

Sacramento Express The Sacramento Express were a professional American rugby union team that played in the short lived PRO Rugby competition. They were based in Sacramento, California, and played their home games at Bonney Field. History In early November 2015, P ...

for the inaugural season of

PRO Rugby Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retired ...

International career

Bergamasco made his international debut against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in the

2002 Six Nations Championship The 2002 Six Nations Championship was the third series of rugby union's Six Nations Championship, the 108th international championship overall. The annual tournament was won by France, who completed a grand slam. Participants The teams involved we ...

, having previously appeared against an All-Star XV in a non-cap international. He established himself as a regular in the Azzurri side under coach John Kirwan. He scored three tries in the

2003 Six Nations Championship The 2003 Six Nations Championship was the fourth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, and the 109th international championship overall. The annual tournament was won by England, who completed a grand slam, and went on to win the 200 ...

. He suffered a jaw injury during the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...

, however, and was forced to miss all but two of Italy's games. He switched to inside centre from the back three and was considered one of the stars of the

2006 Six Nations Championship The 2006 Six Nations Championship was the seventh series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship to be held since the competition expanded in 2000 to include Italy. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this ...

, scoring three tries in five matches. Though his position has primarily been that of the

and

, he has been one of the main goal kickers for Italy since 2011. In the

2011 Six Nations Championship The 2011 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2011 RBS 6 Nations due to sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 12th series of the Six Nations Championship, and the 117th edition of the international championship. The annual rugby uni ...

match against France. Bergamasco kicked six from eight, resulting in a 22–21 win for Italy, their first win in the Six Nations against the French. Bergamasco returned to the Italian side for the

2014 Six Nations Championship The 2014 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2014 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 15th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championshi ...

, but was not selected to play in any matches.

Switch to rugby league

In October 2016, Bergamasco was selected in

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 re ...

's 22-man squad for their

2017 Rugby League World Cup qualifying The 2017 Rugby League World Cup qualifying process began on 9 May 2015 with the 2015 European Championship C. In August 2014, it was announced that seven of the eight quarter-finalists at the 2013 tournament would receive automatic qualificati ...

campaign. He played at in two matches, kicking 7 goals for Italy against

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

. In March 2017, Bergamasco joined the

Saluzzo Roosters The Saluzzo Roosters, formerly known as the North West Roosters, are a rugby league club based in Saluzzo, Piedmont, Italy. Founded in 2010 as a rugby union club, the Roosters changed to playing rugby league in 2015. They currently compete in the ...

during their inaugural season in the French

National Division 2 National Division 2 is the fourth tier of rugby league in France, below the National Division 1. The season runs from September to April. The Division is split into 5 regional leagues, Languedoc-Roussillon, Midi-Pyrenees, Aquitaine, Ile de France ...

competition. In June 2017, Bergamasco represented Italy in their matches against

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, kicking 13 goals against the latter. Bergamasco kicked 4 goals in Italy's pre-World Cup match against

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

in October.

Personal life

Bergamasco is the son of

Arturo Arturo is a Spanish and Italian variant of the name Arthur. People *Arturo Álvarez (footballer, born 1985), American-born Salvadoran footballer * Arturo Álvarez (footballer, born 1959), Mexican footballer *Arthuro Henrique Bernhardt (b. 1982), Br ...

and the younger brother of

Mauro Bergamasco Mauro Bergamasco (born 1 May 1979) is a former Italian rugby union footballer who last played for Zebre. He predominantly played as an open-side flanker, although his versatility means that he had also played a number of international games on th ...

, both Italian internationals. Bergamasco appeared on the cover and in the 2004 edition of ''Les Dieux du Stade'', a calendar in which French rugby players pose nude. In 2007 he and his brother featured on the cover of the Italian version of the

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" ...

game ''

Rugby 08 ''Rugby 08'' is the last release in the Rugby series to be published by EA Sports. The game allows players to play as 20 different Rugby nations, both major and minor, and includes many tournaments, such as the Rugby World Cup, Tri Nations, Six ...

''. Bergamasco is a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. Di ...

since 2013. In 2017 he posed nude for one of

PETA Peta or PETA may refer to: Acronym * Pembela Tanah Air, a militia established by the occupying Japanese in Indonesia in 1943 * People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an American animal rights organization * People Eating Tasty Animals, an ...

's ad campaigns advocating for the vegan lifestyle. He's married to French Iranian journalist Ati Safavi. She became a vegan before him, inspiring him. They both appeared as testimonials for the Italian animal rights organization Lega Anti Vivisezione (LAV).

References

External links

* *(archived by web.archive.org
Statistics at rlwc2017.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergamasco, Mirco 1983 births Living people Dual-code rugby internationals Italian rugby league players Italian rugby sevens players Italian rugby union players Italy international rugby sevens players Italy international rugby union players Italy national rugby league team players Male rugby sevens players North West Roosters players Petrarca Rugby players Racing 92 players Rugby league centres Rugby Rovigo Delta players Rugby union centres Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union wings Sacramento Express players Sportspeople from Padua Stade Français players Zebre Parma players