Benetton Rugby Treviso

Benetton Rugby Treviso

Full name	Benetton Rugby Treviso
Union	Federazione Italiana Rugby
Founded	1932 (1932)
Location	Treviso, Italy
Ground(s)	Stadio Comunale di Monigo (Capacity: 6,700)
President	Roy Spiers
Coach(es)	Alan Wilson
Captain(s)	Peter Dickson
League(s)	Pro12
2013–14	1st
1st kit 2nd kit
Official website
www.benettonrugby.it

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

Treviso were founded in 1932 and have won 15 Italian national championships. The Treviso rugby team has been owned by the Benetton clothing company since 1979. Treviso has competed in the Pro12 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.

The President of Treviso Rugby is Roy Spiers.

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.^[1] 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.^[2] 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,^[3] 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.^[4] However, Pretorians Roma failed to satisfy financial criteria, and Treviso instead joined the Celtic League (renamed the Pro12).^[5] Treviso finished their first two season in the Pro12 (2010-2011 & 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

Pro12 Table
	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points For	Points Against	Points Difference	Tries For	Tries Against	Try Bonus	Losing Bonus	Points
1	Glasgow Warriors (Q)	20	15	1	4	498	329	+169	58	30	8	0	70
2	Munster (Q)	20	14	1	5	508	317	+191	59	25	7	3	68
3	Ulster (Q)	20	14	1	5	491	317	+174	56	29	6	3	67
4	Ospreys (Q)	20	14	1	5	501	328	+173	48	27	6	2	66
5	Leinster	20	9	3	8	437	352	+85	48	37	7	4	53
6	Scarlets	20	9	3	8	419	369	+50	40	37	4	3	49
7	Edinburgh	20	10	1	9	371	364	+7	38	42	3	3	48
8	Connacht	20	9	1	10	387	385	+2	41	44	2	4	44
9	Newport Gwent Dragons	20	7	0	13	347	429	−82	33	46	3	6	37
10	Cardiff Blues	20	6	1	13	395	524	−129	41	55	2	2	30
11	Benetton Treviso	20	3	1	16	293	614	−321	32	78	2	2	18
12	Zebre	20	3	0	17	251	570	−319	25	69	0	3	15
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:[6] 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, and earn a place in the European Rugby Champions Cup. Blue background indicates teams outside the play-off places, that earn a place in the European Rugby Champions Cup. The top team from each country will qualify. Yellow background indicates the team that advances to a play-off semi-final against Aviva Premiership side Gloucester, who qualified for the play-off as the 2014–15 European Rugby Challenge Cup winners.[7] Plain background indicates teams that earn a place in the European Rugby Challenge Cup.

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
2013–14	11th	22	5	1	16	8	30

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
2012–13	Pool 2	4	6	1	0	5	1	5
2013–14	Pool 5	4	6	0	0	6	0	0

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.

Staff & Coaching Team

Head Coach – Umberto Casellato
Assistant Coach – Marious Goosen
Team Manager – Giovanni Grespan
Skills Coach – Martin Field-Dodgson
Head of Athletic Training – Fabio Benvenuto
Trainer – Giorgio Intoppa – Gabriele Rossi

Current squad

2014-15 Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Union Davide Giazzon Hooker Italy Giovanni Maistri Hooker Italy Bruno Mercanti Hooker Argentina Amar Kudin Hooker Italy Romulo Acosta Prop Argentina Albert Anae Prop Samoa Rupert Harden Prop England Salesi Manu Prop Australia Matteo Muccignat Prop Italy Josè Francisco Novak Prop Argentina Matteo Zanusso Prop Italy Marco Fuser Lock Italy Marco Lazzaroni Lock Italy Antonio Pavanello (c) Lock Italy Meyer Swanepoel Lock South Africa Tomas Vallejos Cinalli Lock Argentina Cornelius van Zyl Lock Italy Marco Barbini Flanker Italy Dean Budd Flanker New Zealand Nicola Cattina Flanker Italy Paul Derbyshire Flanker Italy Simone Favaro Flanker Italy Francesco Minto Flanker Italy Mat Luamanu Number 8 New Zealand Alessandro Zanni Number 8 Italy

Player Position Union Edoardo Gori Scrum-half Italy Alberto Lucchese Scrum-half Italy Henry Seniloli Scrum-half Fiji James Ambrosini Fly-half Italy Joe Carlisle Fly-half England Enrico Bacchin Centre Italy Michele Campagnaro Centre Italy Luca Morisi Centre Italy Andrea Pratichetti Centre Italy Alberto Sgarbi Centre Italy Angelo Esposito Wing Italy Ludovico Nitoglia Wing Italy Simone Ragusi Wing Italy Sam Christie Fullback New Zealand Jayden Hayward Fullback New Zealand Ruggero Trevisan Fullback Italy

• 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.^[8]

Extended Playing Squad

Additional members of the Extended Playing Squad:^[9]

• Juan Francisco Ymaz (Flanker) Rugby Valpolicella

Selected former players

Former players who have played for Treviso and have caps for their respective country

Lucas Borges Michael Lynagh Michael Horak Peter Richards Robert Barbieri Tommaso Benvenuti Mauro Bergamasco Valerio Bernabò Tobias Botes Kris Burton Gonzalo Canale Carlo Checchinato Lorenzo Cittadini

Santiago Dellapè Alberto De Marchi Benjamin de Jager Alberto Di Bernardo Gianluca Faliva Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet Ivan Francescato Ezio Galon Gonzalo Garcia Leonardo Ghiraldini Tommaso Iannone Andrea Marcato Luke McLean Fabio Ongaro

Scott Palmer Sergio Parisse Enrico Pavanello Simon Picone Michele Rizzo Franco Sbaraglini Fabio Semenzato Michele Sepe Giulio Toniolatti Alessandro Troncon Manoa Vosawai Christian Loamanu Craig Green John Kirwan Bian Vermaak Marco Wentzel Andy Moore

See also

• Pro12
• Heineken Cup
• European Challenge Cup
• National Championship of Excellence
• Coppa Italia

References

External links

• Official site

Celtic League and Pro12 Teams Benetton Treviso Cardiff Blues Connacht Edinburgh Glasgow Warriors Leinster Munster Newport Gwent Dragons Ospreys Scarlets Ulster Zebre Former Bridgend Caerphilly Cardiff Ebbw Vale Llanelli Neath Newport Pontypridd Swansea Defunct Aironi Border Reivers Celtic Warriors Grounds Stadio Comunale di Monigo Cardiff Arms Park Galway Sportsgrounds Murrayfield Scotstoun Stadium RDS Arena / Aviva Stadium Thomond Park / Musgrave Park Rodney Parade Liberty Stadium Parc y Scarlets Ravenhill Stadium Stadio XXV Aprile Seasons Celtic League 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 Pro12 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 Grand Finals 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Winners 2002: Leinster 2003: Munster 2004: Scarlets 2005: Ospreys 2006: Ulster 2007: Ospreys 2008: Leinster 2009: Munster 2010: Ospreys 2011: Munster 2012: Ospreys 2013: Leinster 2014: Leinster

European Rugby Champions Cup European Professional Club Rugby 2014–15 Teams Bath Benetton Treviso Castres Olympique Clermont Glasgow Warriors Harlequins Leicester Tigers Leinster Montpellier Munster Northampton Saints Ospreys Racing Métro Sale Sharks Saracens Scarlets Toulon Toulouse Ulster Wasps Seasons 2014–15 Pool stages 2014–15 Finals 2015 Qualification play-off 2014–15 2015–16

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