Italy prop forward Mirco Spagnolo said he is disappointed that his Ireland counterpart Tadhg Furlong has been subjected to social media ridicule after he drove the veteran front rower into the air at a scrum in last weekend’s Six Nations match.<\/p>\n
The sight of British & Irish Lions veteran being given “his wings” as substitute Spagnolo scrummed him off his feet and up into the air in Dublin has gone viral, with a plethora of memes and comments poking fun at Wexford native Furlong.<\/p>\n
“I’m sorry because I think it’s going a bit too far,” Spagnolo told a press conference.<\/p>\n
“The video of the scrum is one thing, but I’m also seeing a lot of memes that I think are disrespectful. We’re talking about Furlong, a legend of the sport.<\/p>\n
“The sporting aspect is one thing, and I understand the desire to highlight the strength of our scrum, but when you go beyond that and create memes to ridicule a prop who made rugby history, it’s not right.”<\/p>\n
Italy\u2019s scrum power saw them come close to an upset win over the Irish, who secured a narrow 20-13 victory. The Italians will hope to use their scrum to upset Six Nations champions France in Lille on Sunday.<\/p>\n
“They’re playing at home and are dominating the tournament,” Spagnolo said of the French, who beat Ireland and Wales in their opening two matches of this year\u2019s competition.<\/p>\n
“They’ll certainly arrive very determined, and I expect an incredible battle up front. Also, because the scrums in the Top 14 are really tough, there are experienced players coming from big teams.”<\/p>\n
Watch France v Italy in the Six Nations on Sunday from 2.30pm on RT\u00c92 and RT\u00c9 Player<\/p>\n
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