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One image kept coming back in episode 40 of Divagazioni di Rugby: Paolo Garbisi walking up to the Aimé Giral stadium through two walls of supporters, amid flares, children and fans reaching out to hug him. “It must be quite something to play in a setting like that,” DanPat said. For a player who only months ago was being told at Toulon that he would not play again, it is more than stage dressing.
How it ended at Toulon
The move to USA Perpignan was agreed in late June 2026 on a two-year deal. Garbisi left Toulon a year before his contract expired, after a second half of the season in which he had slipped down the order: from January onwards his appearances can be counted on one hand, with Tomás Albornoz ahead of him.
The Italy fly-half described it in a line that was quoted almost verbatim on air: when they tell you that you will never play again, that is not healthy competition. The podcast also recalled the low point of that period, the trip to La Rochelle that ended in a hammering for Toulon. It should be noted, though, that the match dates to January 2026, so last season, and that the off-the-cuff account of the side Toulon fielded that day is not borne out by the sources.
Why Perpignan is different
The difference, according to the reading offered on air, lies in what he was told on arrival. Nobody at Perpignan promised him the starting shirt: there are other players in the department capable of handling the international level. What they told him was something else — that the place is his to win, every day, in a stronger squad than last season’s.
“That’s a different kind of motivation,” Lovisetto observed. And the pitch, so far, backs him up: Italy’s number ten has started the season well.
The context helps explain the weight of the choice. Less than a year from the 2027 World Cup, staying in the Top 14 meant staying in the most competitive league in Europe rather than accepting the offers that came from South Africa. For a player who has to climb back into Gonzalo Quesada’s plans, the difference between playing and not playing outweighs everything else.
The wider Italian picture in France
The podcast then widened out to the other Italians in the Top 14. The verdict on Ange Capuozzo was enthusiastic: deployed on the left wing against Bordeaux, an unusual position for him, he still did superbly in a match in which Toulouse looked, in their words, simply unplayable. Martin Page-Relo also impressed, picked to start by Bordeaux in a game that went badly for his side: the very choice to prefer him to Maxime Lucu is, for DanPat, a signal.
Finally, watch out for a new name: Kevin Gourgues, the centre whose break created Capuozzo’s try. “For now this Gourgues plays, because the lad is genuinely strong,” was the podcast’s summary, in a department that also contains Santiago Chocobares, Tommaso Menoncello and Pierre-Louis Barassi.
Read also: Toulouse-Bordeaux 48-12: Capuozzo and Dupont devastating · Why Menoncello missed Toulouse-Bordeaux