Dal sito dei NewCastle Falcons
<BR>8.12.2005
<BR>It's A Family Affair For Paoletti
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<BR>Tino Paoletti scrums down © Sportsbeat Images
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<BR>Make room on the terraces at Stadio Tomasso Fattori on Saturday, because the Paoletti family is decamping en-masse from Florence to watch giant prop Tino and his Newcastle Falcons team, as they take on L’Aquila in the European Challenge Cup.
<BR>Mama, Papa and a whole legion of assorted Paolettis will be crammed in to a van for the 500km drive to the mountain town, as Tino and his Falcons cohorts drop in for the weekend.
<BR>“Luckily my dad loves driving”, says the 28-year-old tight head, as he returns to his home land for the first time in a Newcastle shirt.
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<BR>“I also have a few mates from around L’Aquila, so there will be some Italians supporting Newcastle there at least!”
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<BR>Formerly with Parma and Piacenza in the Italian leagues, Paoletti’s local knowledge has given the English visitors a taste of what they can expect in the mountainous Abruzzo region, revealing: “It’s a small town, and they’re really famous for having a very passionate crowd.
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<BR>“In terms of sport the town is just ‘rugby, rugby, rugby’ in the same way that places such as Treviso, Calvisano and Viadana are, whereas in the big cities it tends to be more football.
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<BR>“It’s a good club, and they have a big history in the Italian game there. The rugby club is like the centre of the community, and the supporters will make a lot of noise on Saturday, so we have to be ready for it.
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<BR>“In Italian club rugby it is traditionally a difficult place to win because the quality they do have is a lot of passion, like in the way that Gloucester is in the English game.”
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<BR>Not underestimating Saturday’s opponents, whose name literally translates as ‘The Eagle’ he says: “When they are at home they have a certain arrogance about them, and they give 110 per cent for their home fans, but if we match their passion and commitment on the day then we are confident our rugby skills and our ability to score tries will win us the game.
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<BR>“We’re not going in to this match thinking it will be an easy win, because it is a rugby game, and if you turn up without the desire to work hard and earn everything you will pay the price.”
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<BR>Injury has denied Paoletti the chance to lock horns with Italian favourite Andrea Lo Cicero this weekend, with a disappointed Falcons star admitting: “I’ve known him for a very long time because we played together with the Italian squad, and I would have loved to come up against him.
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<BR>“You always want to test yourself against the best available players, so when I heard he was injured I was very disappointed. It’s always nice to try to smash your mates on the rugby field and have a laugh afterwards, so it’s a big blow that he’s missing the game.”
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<BR>Assessing the squad which will take the field for the locals, Paoletti says: “The No.8 Caine Elisara is a good player going forward, the flanker Ealdo Birchall was with me at Parma and I also know another flanker Pierpaolo Rotilio from them.
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<BR>“They are not a squad which has what you would call big name players, but they have a good team culture and they really drive each other on.”
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<BR>Sounding one note of caution, he states: “The only bad thing is the weather over there at the moment.
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<BR>“One of my friends called me from L’Aquila last night and said it was minus five there. It is a big skiing region up in the mountains, so I just hope the pitch isn’t frozen and that we get to play the game in the end.
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<BR>“But presuming it does go ahead, the main thing is just to go out and play the game at our pace, because we believe that can be the difference.”