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Zebre Parma have confirmed that veteran hooker and former Italy captain Luca Bigi will depart the membership on the finish of the season.
The 6ft, 108kg ahead’s departure will convey to an finish a six-year stint with the Italian URC franchise.
His subsequent membership, if any, has but to be confirmed.
Bigi’s closing look is ready to come back this Saturday when Zebre host Connacht on the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi within the final spherical of the United Rugby Championship common season.
The 34-year-old has made 72 appearances for Zebre since becoming a member of the membership in 2018, scoring eight tries. Bigi was named captain of the Italian nationwide workforce for the 2020 Six Nations, succeeding the good Sergio Parisse.
“Luca Bigi is and might be within the historical past of Zebre,” mentioned Zebre CEO Fabrizio Gaetaniello. “Past his technical expertise, the dedication and work ethic of a participant like him might be a heritage that might be handed down within the cultural heritage of our franchise.
“At present we are saying goodbye to a champion, an Azzurri captain and a person who has contributed considerably to writing pages of historical past. We want him the very best private {and professional} successes, sure that his nice human calibre will instantly emerge in different contexts as nicely.”
Bigi started his profession with Viadana and Petrarca Padova, earlier than catching the eye of Benetton, who introduced him into the Pro12 in 2015.
After three seasons in Treviso he moved to Zebre forward of the 2018–19 marketing campaign.
He first represented Italy at senior degree in 2017, having beforehand featured for Emerging Italy on the 2015 World Rugby Tbilisi Cup. Bigi went on to earn 49 check caps and featured in each the 2019 and 2023 Rugby World Cups, and captaining the Azzurri by means of the 2020 and 2021 Six Nations campaigns. He scored a solitary at Check degree, which got here in opposition to Scotland within the 2021 Six Nations.
