Sebastian Negri
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 Negri representing the Italian Rugby Federation, October 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Sebastian Luke Negri da Oleggio[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 30 June 1994 Marondera, Zimbabwe | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 195 cm (6 ft 5 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 108 kg (238 lb; 17 st 0 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sebastian Luke Negri da Oleggio (born 30 June 1994) is a professional rugby union player who primarily plays flanker for Benetton of the United Rugby Championship. He was born in Zimbabwe and grew up in both Zimbabwe and South Africa, and represents Italy at international level, qualifying through his Italian father. He made his test debut against the United States in 2016. Negri has previously played for clubs such as Sharks and Western Province in the past.[2]
Negri was born in Marondera, Zimbabwe – where his family owned a farm – to a Milanese 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 in Zimbabwe. Negri started playing rugby at the age of 6 at school in Zimbabwe.
His family fell victim to Robert Mugabe's expropriations against the country's white landowners. This prompted them to leave the country and move to Durban, South Africa. He moved to South Africa, 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.
He moved to England in 2014 to study sports business management at Hartpury College, Gloucestershire, where he joined the rugby team.[3]. He captained the team that won the BUCS super rugby in 2016-2017 against Exeter University.[4]
After university, Negri signed a two-year deal with Italian Pro14 side Benetton prior to the 2017–2018 season.[5][6]
