Italian rugby icon Martin Castrogiovanni has spilled the beans on his tumultuous exit from professional rugby, including a fiery feud with a coach he detested. The stalwart prop opened up during a panel discussion, revealing gritty details about his career and the contentious incidents that marked its end.
During his seven-year stint at Leicester, Castrogiovanni experienced both high success and high drama. A significant clash came with the emergence of Dan Cole and the club's decision-making regarding his contract. "I was on a stupid amount of money, and they tried to let me go, and I wasn’t a guy who would sit down and shut up. I always say my things,” he explained. This friction led to a heated exchange with then-coach Richard Cockerill, resulting in Castrogiovanni's suspension for using profane language, which he claims was a common part of his learned English vocabulary in the club’s changing room.
The tension didn't end in England; it followed him to France when he joined Toulon. Returning to Welford Road for a match, he overheard remarks by Cockerill that incensed him so much, he confronted the coach clad only in a towel.
"Love me or hate me. I don’t hate anyone. Peace and love. I just don’t like c***s,"
Castrogiovanni declared before storming out of the press conference.His career ended not with applause, but with controversy at Racing 92 after he was sacked for allegedly lying about his whereabouts when he missed training to party in Vegas. "When people don’t want you, they make you understand they don’t want you," he lamented. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, with whom he was partying, quipped,
"Castro, don’t worry. Tomorrow in the conference, I will say now, rugby is more famous because of me, because you are with me."
Reflecting on his career and the clashes that overshadowed his final days in rugby, Castrogiovanni expressed a mixture of regret and defiance, acknowledging his fiery nature and the bridges burned along the way. Despite the acrimonious end, he left the sport with over a hundred international caps and enough memories to last a lifetime.