“Rugby is a peaceful war”. Interview with Michela Sillari

Ninety-nine ‘caps’, that is, 99 appearances (and 329 points) for the national team; her 100th is likely to come at 10.15 pm Italian time on Saturday 24 October in Nashville, Tennessee, during the second of the two Global Series matches against the United States (the first was won by the Americans 36–27), broadcast live on Sky Sport. Michela Sillari, known as Michi, aged 33, born in Parma and living in Padua, centre for Valsugana and the Italian national team, is the smallest of the Italian women’s rugby players: 165 for 60. Yet, if possible, she is the most determined.

“By chance. I was at primary school in Parma; it was 2000, I was seven years old. The suggestion came during PE; my best friends were already playing rugby, so I said to myself, ‘Why not?’, one of those questions that doesn’t need an answer – so much so that I was already out on the pitch. I was quite good at it. I enjoyed it. And I haven’t left the pitch since.”

“Boys only. Back then, women’s rugby still seemed so unusual that there wasn’t even a changing room just for me; before training I had to get changed in the car or in the loo, and after training I’d have a shower at home. I carried on playing with the boys right up to the Under-13s; by the Under-15s, it was no longer allowed, so I moved from Parma to play in Piacenza.”

“Italy v England, 2012 Six Nations. I hadn’t even been selected. Then Sara Barattin got injured, so I joined the squad a few days beforehand. Due to flooding, the match was moved to Recco, one of the first artificial-pitch grounds. It was 12 February; I started on the bench and, with 10 minutes to go, came on as a substitute for Chiara Castellarin on the wing. It ended in a big win for them. But I stayed in the national team.”

“The standard has risen enormously – both technically and physically – amongst both men and women. And something has changed in the approach too. Perhaps just a little. Even now, in Italy, 99 per cent of people think that rugby is a sport exclusively for men. All we can do is explain, patiently, that women’s rugby is also a contact sport, a game of skill, an expression of teamwork. And a peaceful war.”

“As a centre, I lack the playmaking ability and physicality of a centre-forward, and the dynamism and finishing ability of a winger; that’s why I have to try to make myself more useful, more creative, more unpredictable, and create space for my teammates. And, along the way, I’ve also been promoted to the role of playmaker. That brings with it specific training and an extra moral responsibility.”

“There is a role for everyone, at every level. Whether it’s height, weight, speed or generosity… Courage is a common denominator. And another common denominator must be training, improving and working hard. And, during a match, knowing how to adapt to situations.”

“Not us women. In fact, we all work. When I was playing in England, in London, I worked in a fast-food restaurant in the mornings. Then I graduated with a degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering; now I work in Padua, and when I play for the national team, I take holiday.”

“It may sound trite, but that was the best day of my life, celebrated with the people we most wanted to have with us. Being able to share – Giordana and I – our passion, namely rugby, through victories and defeats, joys and difficulties, emotions and stress, certainties and doubts, enriches and simplifies our lives.”