Benetton Rugby Treviso

Benetton Rugby Treviso

Full name	Benetton Rugby Treviso
Union	Federazione Italiana Rugby
Founded	1932
Location	Treviso, Italy
Ground(s)	Stadio Comunale di Monigo (Capacity: 6,700)
President	Amerino Zatta
Coach(es)	Franco Smith
Captain(s)	Antonio Pavanello
League(s)	Pro 12
2012–13	7th
1st kit 2nd kit 3rd kit
Official website
www.benettonrugby.it

Benetton Rugby Treviso (Italian pronunciation: [ˌbenetˈton ˈrɛgbi treˈviːzo]) are an Italian professional rugby union team based in Treviso, Veneto competing in the RaboDirect Pro12 and the Heineken Cup.

Treviso were founded in 1932 and have won 15 Italian national titles. The Treviso rugby team has been owned by the Benetton clothing company since 1979. Treviso has competed in the Pro 12 since 2010, and had previously competed in the Italian domestic championship.

Treviso have supplied a large number of players to the Italian national team, such as Alessandro Zanni and Leonardo Ghiraldini. Several notable foreign players have played for Treviso, including Rugby World Cup winners Craig Green, John Kirwan and Michael Lynagh.

History

Amateur era: 1932-1995

Treviso rugby team were founded in 1932. The club won its first honour when they took the 1952 Italian premiership. Benetton Treviso won its first Italian Cup in 1970, and in 1978 won the Italian premiership once again. The year after Benetton became the main sponsor, and the name of the team became "Benetton Rugby Treviso". Treviso won the domestic premiership in 1983, then again in 1989, and in the 1992 season.

Professional era: 1995-present

Rugby turned professional after 1995. Benetton Treviso dominated the Italian league from 1997 until 2010, winning the championship 10 times (1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010) during those 14 seasons, and twice finishing second. They also won the Italian Cup in 1998.

Benetton Treviso has competed in the Heineken Cup competition almost every year since the competition began in 1995 along with the professional era. Benetton Treviso competed in the inaugural 1995-96 Heineken Cup, winning one game and losing one. The following season they played four matches, winning one game. In the 1998–99 Heineken Cup they won three games. Benetton Treviso spent the 2000–01 and 2002–03 seasons in the European Challenge Cup, but have appeared in the Heineken Cup in each season since then. They won half of their games during the 2004–05 Heineken Cup, but won only one match in the following four seasons (at Newport Gwent Dragons in 2007). In the 2009–10 Heineken Cup opener they defeated reigning French Top 14 champions Perpignan 9–8 in Treviso.

Following the 2009-10 season Treviso left the Italian domestic competition, and in 2010-11 was one of two Italian teams to join the Celtic League to play against clubs from Ireland, Wales and Scotland. Both Italian teams were guaranteed places annually into the Heineken Cup, which had previously been awarded to the two top teams in the domestic Italian National Championship of Excellence. An agreement had been reached in early March 2010 to allow two Italian teams a place in the Celtic League. In 2010 it was proposed that Aironi and a new team Praetorians Roma would join, but Treviso were nominated instead. Treviso and a combination of Duchi Nord-Ovest rugby clubs could not agree to form one regional representative club and lost out in the first round of bidding. However, Pretorians Roma failed to satisfy financial criteria, and Treviso instead joined the Celtic League (renamed the Pro 12). Treviso finished their first two season in the Pro 12 (2011-2012) in 10th place, while in the 2012-2013 season they finished 7th.

Honours

• National Championship of Excellence:
  • Champions: 1956, 1978, 1983, 1989, 1992, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010
• Coppa Italia:
  • Champions: 1970, 1998, 2005, 2010

Current standings

Pro 12 Table
	Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points For	Points Against	Points Difference	Tries For	Tries Against	Try Bonus	Losing Bonus	Points
1	Ulster (F)	22	17	1	4	577	348	+229	62	33	8	3	81
2	Leinster (F)	22	17	0	5	585	386	+199	63	46	9	1	78
3	Glasgow Warriors (SF)	22	16	0	6	541	324	+217	66	30	9	3	76
4	Scarlets (SF)	22	15	0	7	436	406	+30	41	37	3	3	66
5	Ospreys	22	14	1	7	471	342	+129	48	25	2	2	62
6	Munster	22	11	1	10	442	389	+53	46	34	4	4	54
7	Benetton Treviso	22	10	2	10	414	450	–36	45	44	4	2	50
8	Connacht	22	8	1	13	358	422	–64	32	43	1	3	38
9	Cardiff Blues	22	8	0	14	348	487	–139	28	51	1	5	38
10	Edinburgh	22	7	0	15	399	504	–105	35	51	1	7	36
11	Newport Gwent Dragons	22	6	0	16	358	589	–231	31	72	1	3	28
12	Zebre	22	0	0	22	291	573	–282	29	60	1	9	10
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: number of matches won; the difference between points for and points against; the number of tries scored; the most points scored; the difference between tries for and tries against; the fewest number of red cards received; the fewest number of yellow cards received.
Green background (rows 1 to 4) are play-off places. Qualification for the Heineken Cup is based on each country's allocation, i.e. three highest–ranked Irish teams, three highest–ranked Welsh teams, both Italian teams and both Scottish teams. Leinster won the Amlin Challenge Cup, giving Ireland an extra Heineken Cup place that passed to Connacht. Updated 17 May 2013. Source: RaboDirect PRO12

Season records

Pro12 League

Season	Pos	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Bonus	Points
2010–11	10th	22	9	0	13	2	38
2011–12	10th	22	7	0	15	8	36
2012–13	7th	22	10	2	10	6	50

European Challenge Cup

Season	Pool/Round	Pos	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Bonus	Points
2000–01	Pool 1	2	6	5	0	1	-	10
2002–03	2nd Round	Newcastle Falcons 43 – 32 Treviso (aggregate score)

Heineken Cup

Season	Pool/Round	Pos	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Bonus	Points
1995–96	Pool 1	2	2	1	0	1	–	2
1996–97	Pool 1	4	4	1	0	3	–	2
1997–98	Pool 5	3	6	2	0	4	–	4
1998–99	Pool 4	3	6	3	0	3	–	6
1999–00	Pool 5	3	6	2	0	4	–	4
2001–02	Pool 2	4	6	1	0	5	–	2
2003–04	Pool 5	3	6	1	0	5	1	5
2004–05	Pool 2	3	6	3	0	3	2	14
2005–06	Pool 4	4	6	0	0	6	3	3
2006–07	Pool 1	4	6	0	0	6	0	0
2007–08	Pool 1	4	6	1	0	5	1	5
2008–09	Pool 3	4	6	0	0	6	0	0
2009–10	Pool 1	4	6	1	0	5	1	5
2010–11	Pool 5	4	6	0	0	6	1	1
2011–12	Pool 5	4	6	1	1	4	1	7

Stadium

The team play at the Stadio Comunale di Monigo in Treviso, 4 km northwest of the city centre. The stadium has a capacity of 6,700.

The Team

Staff & Coaching Team

Head Coach – Franco Smith
Team Manager – Mauro Serafin
Assistant Coach / Team Manager – Marius Goosen
Skills Coach – Martin Field-Dodgson
Head of Athletic Training – Fabio Benvenuto
Trainer – Giorgio Intoppa

Squad 2012/2013

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under IRB eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-IRB nationality.

Player Position Union Enrico Ceccato Hooker Italy Leonardo Ghiraldini Hooker Italy Giovanni Maistri Hooker Italy Franco Sbaraglini Hooker Italy Lorenzo Cittadini Prop Italy Alberto de Marchi Prop Italy Pedro Di Santo Prop Italy Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet Prop Italy Matteo Muccignat Prop Italy Michele Rizzo Prop Italy Jacobus Roux Prop South Africa Valerio Bernabò Lock Italy Marco Fuser Lock Italy Antonio Pavanello (c) Lock Italy Cornelius van Zyl Lock Italy Robert Barbieri Flanker Italy Dean Budd Flanker New Zealand Paul Derbyshire Flanker Italy Simone Favaro Flanker Italy Marco Filippucci Flanker Italy Francesco Minto Flanker Italy Alessandro Zanni Flanker Italy Manoa Vosawai Number 8 Italy

Player Position Union Tobias Botes Scrum-half Italy Edoardo Gori Scrum-half Italy Fabio Semenzato Scrum-half Italy James Ambrosini Fly-half Australia Kristopher Burton Fly-half Italy Tommaso Benvenuti Centre Italy Michele Campagnaro Centre Italy Doppies la Grange Centre South Africa Luca Morisi Centre Italy Andrea Pratichetti Centre Italy Alberto Sgarbi Centre Italy Angelo Esposito Wing Italy Tommaso Iannone Wing Italy Christian Loamanu Wing Japan Ludovico Nitoglia Wing Italy Giulio Toniolatti Wing Italy Luke McLean Fullback Italy Brendan Williams Fullback Australia

• James Ambrosini is eligible to play internationally for Italy.
• Players in bold capped internationally.
• Players and their allocated positions from the Benetton Rugby Treviso Website as at 7 July 2012.

Players in 2012/2013

• James Ambrosini from Queensland A
• Dean Budd from NEC Green Rockets
• Michele Campagnaro from Mirano
• Alberto de Marchi from Aironi
• Angelo Esposito from Tarvisium
• Simone Favaro from Aironi
• Marco Fuser from Mogliano
• Doppies La Grange from Lions
• Christian Loamanu from Toulon
• Giovanni Maistri from Calvisano
• Luca Morisi from Crociati
• Jacobus Roux from Bordeaux-Begles
• Giulio Toniolatti from Aironi

Players Out 2012/2013

• Augusto Allori to Mogliano
• Benjamin de Jager to Calvisano
• Carlo Fazzari to Zebre
• Ezio Galon to Mogliano
• Gonzalo García to Zebre
• Gonzalo Padro to Viadana
• Enrico Pavanello to Mogliano
• Simon Picone to Calvisano
• Willem de Waal Released
• Bian Vermaak Released
• Diego Vidal Released

Notable Former Players

Lucas Borges Michael Lynagh Michael Horak Peter Richards Mauro Bergamasco Gonzalo Canale Carlo Checchinato

Santiago Dellapè Benjamin de Jager Gianluca Faliva Ivan Francescato Ezio Galon Gonzalo Garcia Andrea Marcato Fabio Ongaro

Scott Palmer Sergio Parisse Enrico Pavanello Simon Picone Alessandro Troncon Bian Vermaak John Kirwan Craig Green Marco Wentzel Andy Moore

External links

• Official site