Sebastian Luke Negri da Oleggio (born 30 June 1994) is a 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 plays

flanker Flanker may refer to: * Flanker (perfume), a newly created perfume sharing attributes of an existing one * Flanker (rugby union), a position in rugby union (not found in rugby league) * ''Su-27 Flanker'' (video game), a 1996 computer game modelin ...

for Benetton 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 was born in Zimbabwe and grew up in both Zimbabwe and South Africa, and represents

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 ...

at international level, qualifying through his Italian father. He made his test debut against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 2016. Negri has previously played for clubs such as

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

and

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: *Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provinc ...

in the past.

Early life

Negri was born in

Marondera Marondera, originally known as Marandellas, is a capital city of Mashonaland East, Zimbabwe, located about east of Harare. History It was first known as Marandella's Kraal, corrupted from Marondera, chief of the ruling VaRozvi people who li ...

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

– where his family owned a farm – to a

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

ese father and an Anglo-Zimbabwean mother, who was the godmother of future Scotland international David Denton. He has three siblings – two brothers and a sister. He attended

Springvale House Springvale House Preparatory School (commonly known as Springvale or Springvale House) is an independent, preparatory, boarding and day school in Mashonaland East, Zimbabwe that was established in 1952. The school shares facilities with Peterh ...

in Zimbabwe. Negri started playing rugby at the age of 6 at school in Zimbabwe. His family fell victim to

Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of th ...

's expropriations against the country's white landowners. This prompted them to leave the country and move to

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. He moved to

, where he attended Clifton Preparatory School before moving to Hilton College on a sports scholarship. Originally a fly half, as Negri grew in height he moved to the second row and then became a flanker.

Professional career

He passed through the ranks at the youth teams of Natal and Western Province. After school, he joined the Western Province Academy, and played for them in the

2013 Under-19 Provincial Championship The 2013 ABSA Under-19 Provincial Championship will be contested from 12 July to 26 October 2013. The tournament will feature the Under-19 players from the fourteen provincial rugby unions in South Africa. Competition Group A There are seven pa ...

. He moved to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 2014 to study sports business management at

Hartpury College Hartpury University and Hartpury College, formerly Hartpury College, is a provider of further and higher education The university and college is set in a 360-hectare estate located in Hartpury, near Gloucester, in Gloucestershire, England. The ...

, Gloucestershire, where he joined the rugby team. After university, Negri signed a two-year deal with Italian

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 ...

side Benetton prior to the 2017–2018 season.

International

He was noticed by

Roland de Marigny Roland de Marigny (born 17 November 1975) is an Italian rugby union footballer. His normal position is fullback though he can also play centre or fly-half. Personal life Marigny was born in Durban, South Africa South Africa, official ...

, a former Italian-South African player, who recommended him to the Italian Federation. He was called up for the Italian Under-20s and took part in the 2013 World Youth Trophy in Chile, which Italy won. Negri represented Italy Under-20 nine times in 2013 and 2014. He progressed to the Emerging Italy team in 2015. On 18 June 2016, while still in college, Negri debuted for the Italian national team in a victory over the

in San Jose. In 2018 he was used throughout the Six Nations, participating in all five matches. Negri was named in Italy's 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 ...

in Japan. 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 ...

in France. He reached his 50th Cap for Italy playing against Uruguay during the group stages.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Negri, Sebastian 1994 births Living people Italian rugby union players Italy international rugby union players Zimbabwean rugby union players Italian people of Zimbabwean descent Zimbabwean people of Italian descent Alumni of Hartpury College Benetton Rugby players Alumni of Hilton College (South Africa) Rugby union locks 2019 Rugby World Cup players 2023 Rugby World Cup players