Sebastian Luke Negri da Oleggio (born 30 June 1994) is a Zimbabwean-born 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 flanker for Benetton 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 re ...

at international level, having made his test debut against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

during the 2016 Summer Internationals. Negri has previously played for clubs such as

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorp ...

and

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: * Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provin ...

in the past.

Professional career

Negri was born in

Marondera Marondera (known as Marandellas until 1982) is a city in Mashonaland East, Zimbabwe, located about 72 km east of Harare. History It was first known as Marandella's Kraal, corrupted from Marondera, chief of the ruling VaRozvi people who ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

and has three siblings – two brothers and a sister. He attended

Springvale House Springvale House Preparatory School (commonly known as Springvale or Springvale House) is an independent, preparatory, boarding and day school in Mashonaland East, Zimbabwe that was established in 1952. The school shares facilities with Pete ...

in Zimbabwe before moving to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, where he attended Clifton Preparatory School before moving to Hilton College on a sports scholarship. After school, he joined the Western Province Academy, and played for them in the

2013 Under-19 Provincial Championship The 2013 ABSA Under-19 Provincial Championship will be contested from 12 July to 26 October 2013. The tournament will feature the Under-19 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa. Competition Group A There are seven part ...

, before moving to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

to study sports business management at

Hartpury College Hartpury University and Hartpury College, formerly Hartpury College, is a provider of further and higher education which describes itself as specialising in the "agriculture, animal, equine, sport and veterinary nursing" sectors. The university a ...

. Negri represented Italy Under-20 nine times in 2013 and 2014 and progressed to the Emerging Italy team in 2015. On 18 June 2016, Negri made his debut for the

Italian national team The Italy national football team ( it, Nazionale di calcio dell'Italia) has represented Italy in international football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing bo ...

in a victory over the

in San Jose. Negri signed a two-year deal with Italian

Pro14 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 Benetton prior to the 2017–2018 season. On 18 August 2019, Negri 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 ...

. On 22nd August 2023, he was named in the Italy's 33-man squad for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

Early life

Negri was born in

– where his family owned a farm – to a

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

ese father and an Anglo-Zimbabwean mother, who was the godmother of future Scotland international

David Denton David Kipling Denton (born 5 February 1990) is a retired Zimbabwean-born Scottish rugby union player. He played in the back row, but could also play in the second row, and represented Edinburgh in the Pro12, Bath, Worcester Warriors and Leices ...

. Negri started playing rugby at the age of 6 at school in Zimbabwe, but his family fell victim to

Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of the ...

's expropriations against the country's white landowners. This prompted them to leave the country and move to

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

. Originally a fly half, as Negri grew in height he moved to the second row and then became a flanker. He passed through the ranks at the youth teams of Natal and Western Province, and was noticed by Roland de Marigny, a former Italian-South African player, who recommended him to the Italian Federation. He was called up for the Italian Under-20s and took part in the 2013 World Youth Trophy in Chile, which Italy won. In 2014, Negri moved to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, studying at Hartpury College, Gloucestershire, where he joined the rugby team. In 2016, while still in college, he made his debut for the Italian national team in San Jose against the United States. After university, Negri was signed by Benetton Treviso for the

2017–18 season. In 2018 he was used throughout the Six Nations, participating in all five matches. More recently, he was part of the Italian team at the 2019 World Cup in Japan.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Negri, Sebastian 1994 births Living people Italian rugby union players Italy international rugby union players Zimbabwean rugby union players Italian people of Zimbabwean descent Zimbabwean people of Italian descent Alumni of Hartpury College Benetton Rugby players Alumni of Hilton College (South Africa) Rugby union locks