Furlong ridicule out of order, says Italy prop who gave him 'wings'

ROME, Feb 19 : 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.

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 Furlong.

“I'm sorry because I think it's going a bit too far,” Spagnolo told a press conference.

“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.

“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.”

Italy’s 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 at Lille on Sunday.

"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’s competition.

“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."

(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Peter Rutherford)