Another wound tears open the chest of Italian rugby: with the pain of Maus Cuttitta’s death still stuck on him, in Bogliasco the night took away – after a long illness – even Marco Bollesan, 79 years old, the legend of a rugby that no longer exists, that of mud and pride, of impossible challenges, of endless tales.
The epic battles with France
Say Bollesan in Italy meant rugby, third line sculpted in competitive spirit, Chioggiotto by mistake, Genoese by election, raised in Cus Genova was the first professional when it was forbidden: Scudetto in Brescia and Naples before ending his career in Amatori Milano. In blue for 10 years he was leader and captain, his battles with France have entered the mythology of the game to the point that beyond the Alps they tried several times to bring him into their own league, without being able to scratch his sense of belonging to Italian rugby.
Ct all in one piece
He led Italy to the first World Cup in 1987 as technical commissioner
, a naive adventure, far in the memories, in which he denied the call-up for reasons of principle to Stefano Bettarello, at the time one of the best openings in the world, and received in exchange the creation of a granite group. In the national team he was also team manager: in Canberra, during the 2003 World Cup, he took a roundabout in reverse and lost his humerus and collarbone. He joked about it and the Australians wrote: “Italians play as they drive.”
Gentleman Rugby Player
Gascon, storyteller, narrator of legendary rugby events, he prided himself on shooting with 160 stitches carved on him («I am a living map», he said) and of having received and given bludgeoning in industrial doses: «The first day of training I bludgeoned left and right. If only I had understood that there was also a ball, perhaps, I would have been able to do something better ». With Bollesan a piece of history goes away, a slice of that sport that no longer exists, made by rough and indestructible gentlemen. In recent years he had retired to Bogliasco and slowly stopped remembering his magnificent exploits.
April 12, 2021 (change April 12, 2021 | 10:21)
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