David Alexander Sharp Sisi (born 5 February 1993) was a German-born Italian professional

rugby union player Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

who primarily played

lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

for

Zebre Parma Zebre Parma (, meaning "Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by the ...

of the

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in ...

. He had also represented

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

on 30 occasions at international level, having made his test debut against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

during the

2019 Six Nations Championship The 2019 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 20th Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England national rugby union team, England ...

. Sisi has previously played for clubs such as

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club that most recently competed in the Premiership Rugby, Premiership, the top division of rugby union in England. The club also participated in the European Rugby Champions Cup, European Champion ...

, London Scottish,

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

, and

Leeds Tykes Leeds Tykes (formerly Leeds RUFC, Leeds Carnegie and Yorkshire Carnegie) is an English rugby union club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the National League 2 North. The club was founded as Headingley FC, but renamed in 1991 when ...

in the past. From September 2024 he is ''Assistant Coach'' of

Early life

Sisi is of Italian descent, and qualifies to play for Italy through his paternal grandparents and his father Carlo. His mother, Barbara, is English. He has a younger brother, Adam. As a youngster he swam representing his county. Rugby was introduced to him at secondary school, aged 11. He joined local club, Tottonians and was picked by Hampshire RFU. At 16, he was offered a place on the

AASE scheme; joining the London Irish academy and completing his schooling part time at St. Paul’s college, and afterwards accepting a full time contract with London Irish; at the time becoming their youngest player to represent their first team. With the England under 20 team, David won both the 6 Nations twice and a first Junior World Cup for England at the time.

Professional career

Sisi moved to

where over the course of 4 years he also spent loan periods to Yorkshire Carnegie (formally Leeds Carnegie), London Scottish and back to London Irish. On 31 July 2017, Sisi signed for Italian club

Zebre Zebre Parma (, meaning " Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by t ...

in the

Pro14 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in ...

from the 2017-18 season. In 2012 and 2013, Sisi was named in the England Under 20 squad, but in 2019 he opted for

and on 18 August 2019, he was named in the final 31-man squad for the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup () was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening matc ...

. On 22 August 2023, he was named in the Italy's 33-man squad for the

2023 Rugby World Cup The 2023 Rugby World Cup () was the tenth men's Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national rugby union teams. It took place in France from 8 September to 28 October 2023 in nine venues across the country. The opening game ...

. David retired from professional rugby at the end of the 23-24 season, having been offered a coaching role with Zebre. He had over 100 caps for Zebre and 30 International appearances.

References

External links

*
Dave Sisi
at European Professional Club Rugby
Dave Sisi
at

Bath Rugby Bath Rugby is a professional rugby union club in Bath, Somerset, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Founded in 1865 as Bath Football Club, since 1894 the club has played at the Recreation Ground, Bath, Rec ...

Dave Sisi
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sisi, David Living people 1993 births Sportspeople from Rinteln Rugby union players from Southampton Italian rugby union players Italy international rugby union players German rugby union players Italian people of English descent German people of Italian descent German people of English descent Bath Rugby players Italian British rugby union players London Irish players London Scottish F.C. players Leeds Tykes players Zebre Parma players Rugby union flankers 2019 Rugby World Cup players 2023 Rugby World Cup players