Zebre Parma

Zebre Parma (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdzɛbre], meaning "Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season.[1] They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by the Italian Rugby Federation (FIR) and replaced Aironi in the Pro12.[2][3][4][5][6]

Zebre Parma
UnionItalian Rugby Federation
Nickname(s)The XV of the North-West («il XV del Nord-Ovest»)
Founded1973 (as Invitational Team – disbanded in 1997)
2012 (2012) (as Professional Team)
LocationParma, Italy
Ground(s)Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, Parma (Capacity: 5,000)
PresidentMichele Dalai
Coach(es)Fabio Roselli
Captain(s)David Sisi
League(s)United Rugby Championship
2022–234th, Scottish/Italian Shield
(16th overall)
1st kit
2nd kit
Official website
www.zebreparma.it

Zebre Parma, often referred to as "the XV of the North-West" (Italian: il XV del Nord-Ovest), represents the four committees of Emilia-Romagna, Liguria, Lombardy and Piedmont, which includes tens of thousands of members and several clubs.[7] Since 2018, it represents also teams from others committees like Abruzzo, Lazio, Marche, Tuscany and Sicily.[8] The team was officially named Zebre Parma at the start of the 2021–22 United Rugby Championship season.[9][10]

History

The entry of Italian teams into the Celtic League had been proposed for many years. After several failed attempts, there was hope that a deal for Italian entry would be done in time for the 2010–11 season, with the Scots delaying support for entry until changes were made to the Celtic League management structure. In February 2010, it was announced that the planned expansion of the Celtic League was to be put on hold. The reasons were the insistence by existing members that the Italian teams could be ejected after three years. Also, the financial demands that the league placed on the Italians could not be met. The existing teams said this was to cover the need to have larger squads to cover the extra fixtures and additional travel expenses.[11] Agreement was reached in early March 2010 to allow Italian teams entry to the Celtic League in time for the 2010–11 season.[12] The clubs will also be guaranteed places in the annual Heineken Cup, which had previously been awarded to the two top teams in the National Championship of Excellence.

Italy have failed to make an impact in the Six Nations Championship since joining in 2000. This has largely been blamed on the fact their best players do not have a competitive enough domestic tournament or are forced to play abroad. The fact that the Six Nations decider in 2009 between Wales and Ireland featured 42 Celtic League players out of 44 in their squads supported this notion.[13]

After initial applications in 2010, it was proposed that Aironi would join along with a new team, Praetorians Roma,[14] but Benetton Treviso were nominated instead. Benetton Treviso and Duchi Nord-Ovest could not agree to form one club to represent the Veneto region and lost out in the first round of bidding despite the region being the traditional home of Italian rugby.[15] However, Pretorians Roma failed to satisfy the evaluators of their financial muscle and Benetton Treviso were nominated in their place.[16]

Former logo, used until June 2023

Aironi struggled in their first season; a surprise European Cup win over Biarritz was the only highlight of a campaign in which they managed only one Pro12 victory. At the end of a second season of struggle on the pitch, Aironi succumbed to financial difficulties off it. Their licence to play both in the European Cup and Pro12 was revoked by the Italian Rugby Federation.[17] The Federation decided against another domestic Italian club taking over the running of the licence, instead opting to maintain complete control of a planned new franchise.[18] In June 2012, it was announced that the new franchise would be known as Zebre and based in Parma.[19]

Zebre did not enjoy much success in their first season, 2012–13, finishing bottom after winless campaigns in both the Pro12 and the Heineken Cup. Although they finished the subsequent 2013–14 season bottom once again, their performance was much improved, seeing their first victory against Cardiff Blues at the Arms Park into Round 3 of Pro12,[20] in a season in which they had five league victories, with their away win in Cardiff followed by home victories against the Ospreys, Edinburgh, Cardiff Blues and Italian Rivals Treviso, who finished the season a single point ahead of Zebre. They fared somewhat worse in 2014–15, managing only 3 victories and finishing bottom of the table for the third season running. In the 2015–16 seasons they again earned five victories including back to back victories against Treviso and a bonus-point victory against the Newport Gwent Dragons. Zebre avoided finishing in last place for the first time.

Honours

Current standings
2023–24 United Rugby Championship
Team P W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts
1Scotland Glasgow Warriors151203426243+18363239158
2Ireland Leinster151104439306+13364389154
3Ireland Munster151014378256+12250308353
4South Africa Bulls151005517350+16768438351
5South Africa Stormers15906379291+8848395445
6Ireland Connacht15906373336+3746444444
7Ireland Ulster15906359339+2044464444
8Italy Benetton15915320314+638434244
9Scotland Edinburgh151005344323+2139412143
10Wales Ospreys15807341346–542396240
11South Africa Lions15708424335+8955426539
12Wales Cardiff153111311333–2240402925
13South Africa Sharks154011291344–5339432523
14Wales Scarlets153012229511–28227692317
15Wales Dragons153012251509–25831711316
16Italy Zebre Parma151113287533–24636784515
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:[21]
  1. number of matches won;
  2. the difference between points for and points against;
  3. the number of tries scored;
  4. the most points scored;
  5. the difference between tries for and tries against;
  6. the fewest red cards received;
  7. the fewest yellow cards received.
Green background indicates teams that are play-off places and earn a place in the 2024–25 European Champions Cup

Plain background indicates teams that earn a place in the 2024–25 European Challenge Cup.
Q: qualified for play-offs. H: home field advantage secured for quarter-and semi-final. h; home field advantage secured for quarter-final X: cannot reach play-offs. E: qualified for Champions Cup.

    The team

    Name history

    Founded in 1973 by the former Italian national captain Marco Bollesan, Zebre (English: Zebras) was chosen, in 2012, by the Italian Rugby Federation as the new franchise's name. The name had been used by an invitational select rugby union team based in Northwest Italy that played regular fixtures between 1973 and 1997. In those 23 years, 25 matches were held against international clubs; and resulted in a high number of victories for Zebre. The opening match was an unofficial test played in Milan in 1973 against the Australian team of Randwick Sydney, who won 21–50. Zebre had a memorable 48–38 victory against the Barbarians in Brescia in June 1997.[22]

    Two other former select teams are Dogi (The Doges) based in Triveneto and I Lupi (The Wolves) based in Central and Southern Italy.[23]

    Stadium and training

    The team play in Parma at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, the former home ground of Crociati Parma and the F.I.R. Academy. Initially, the ground is being refurbished and expanded. Zebre usually hold their summer training camp at Parma University.[24] In its history, Zebre played also official matches in others different homegrounds:
    – In the 2012–13 Pro12 season at Reggio Emilia's Stadio Città del Tricolore, against Leinster;[25]
    – In the 2017–18 Pro14 season at Stadio Tommaso Fattori of L'Aquila, Abruzzo, against Dragons;[26]
    – In the 2018–19 Pro14 season at Stadio Luigi Zaffanella of Viadana, Lombardy, against Leinster[27]
    – In the 2019–20 European Rugby Challenge Cup season at Stadio San Michele of Calvisano, Lombardy, against Brive[28]
    – In the 2019–20 Pro14 season at Stadio Giovanni Mari of Legnano, Lombardy, against Munster;[29]

    Staff and coaching team

    The staff for the 2023–24 season is:[30]

    • Head coach – Fabio Roselli
    • Assistant coaches – Aldo Birchall, Emiliano Bergamaschi, Richard Hodges, Joshua Syms
    • Technical director – Franco Tonni
    • Team Manager – Tommaso Bricoli, Gabriele Di Giulio, Gianmarco Garavaldi
    • Fitness coach – Francesco Della Ceca, Sebastiano Peri, Pietro Scirocchi
    • Video analyst – Niccolò Gaetaniello, Flavio Ferrares, Sara Squassabia
    • Rugby Operations Manager - George Biagi

    Players

    Zebre is mostly based on Italian players, rather than foreigners.[31] In 2012, of the initial list of 36 contracted players, only three were ineligible to play for Italy. Nineteen former Aironi players were included in the original squad. An emphasis on youth development was also visible, with a significant portion of the squad being made up of members of F.I.R. Academy Ivan Francescato .[24]

    Current squad
    Zebre Parma United Rugby Championship squad[lower-alpha 1]

    Props

    • Italy Paolo Buonfiglio
    • Italy Danilo Fischetti
    • Italy Riccardo Genovese
    • Italy Muhamed Hasa
    • Italy Ion Neculai
    • Italy Matteo Nocera
    • Argentina Juan Pitinari*
    • Italy Daniele Rimpelli
    • Italy Luca Rizzoli
    • Italy Alessio Sanavia

    Hookers

    • Italy Luca Bigi
    • Italy Tommaso Di Bartolomeo
    • Italy Marco Manfredi
    • Italy Giampietro Ribaldi

    Locks

    • Italy Matteo Canali
    • South Africa Dylan de Leeuw
    • Italy Leonard Krumov
    • Italy Dave Sisi (c)
    • Italy Andrea Zambonin

    Back row

    • Italy Luca Andreani
    • Italy Iacopo Bianchi
    • Italy Giacomo Ferrari
    • New Zealand Taina Fox-Matamua
    • New Zealand Josh Kaifa
    • Italy Giovanni Licata
    • Italy Davide Ruggeri
    • Argentina Bautista Stavile*
    • Argentina Guido Volpi*

    Scrum-halves

    • Argentina Thomas Dominguez*
    • Italy Alessandro Fusco
    • Argentina Gonzalo García
    • Italy Ratko Jelic

    Fly-halves

    • England Tiff Eden
    • Italy Giovanni Montemauri
    • Argentina Gerónimo Prisciantelli*

    Centres

    • New Zealand Scott Gregory
    • Italy Enrico Lucchin
    • Italy Damiano Mazza
    • Italy Luca Morisi
    • Tonga Fetuli Paea
    • South Africa Franco Smith*

    Wings

    • Italy Filippo Bozzoni
    • Italy Pierre Bruno
    • Wales Ben Cambriani*
    • Italy Simone Gesi

    Fullbacks

    • Italy Lorenzo Pani
    • Italy Jacopo Trulla
    (c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players.
    * denotes players qualified to play for Italy on residency or dual nationality.
    Players and their allocated positions from the Zebre Parma website.[32]
    1. Taking into account signings and departures head of 2023–24 season as listed on List of 2023–24 United Rugby Championship transfers.

    Additional player squad
    Zebre Parma Additional Players squad [lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2][lower-alpha 3][lower-alpha 4][lower-alpha 5][lower-alpha 6]

    Props

    Hookers

    Locks

    Back row

    Scrum-halves

    • None currently named

    Fly-halves

    Centres

    • None currently named

    Wings

    Fullbacks

    • None currently named
    (c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players.
    * denotes players qualified to play for Italy on residency or dual nationality.
    Players and their allocated positions from the Zebre Rugby and F.I.R. website.[41][42][43][44]
    1. Academy player on loan to Serie A Elite team Colorno[33][34]
    2. Academy player on loan to Serie A Elite team Lyons Piacenza[35][36]
    3. Player on loan to Serie A team Rugby Noceto[37]
    4. Academy player on loan to Serie A team Parma[38]
    5. Academy player on loan to Serie A team Rugby Settima Torino[39]
    6. Academy player on loan to Serie A Elite team Viadana[40]

    Selected former players

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

    • Argentina Eduardo Bello
    • Argentina Bruno Postiglioni
    • Argentina Guillermo Roan
    • Australia Luke Burgess
    • England Matt Kvesic
    • Fiji Kameli Ratuvou
    • Fiji Asaeli Tuivuaka
    • Italy Matías Agüero
    • Italy Andrea Bacchetti
    • Italy Mattia Bellini
    • Italy Alberto Benettin
    • Italy Mauro Bergamasco
    • Italy Mirco Bergamasco
    • Italy Valerio Bernabò
    • Italy George Biagi
    • Italy Giulio Bisegni
    • Italy Marco Bortolami
    • Italy Paolo Buso
    • Italy Carlo Canna
    • Italy Tommaso Castello
    • Italy Pietro Ceccarelli
    • Italy Alberto Chillon
    • Italy Dario Chistolini
    • Italy Tommaso D'Apice
    • Italy Paul Derbyshire
    • Italy Andrea De Marchi
    • Italy Carlo Festuccia
    • Italy Danilo Fischetti
    • Italy Joshua Furno
    • Italy Quintin Geldenhuys
    • Italy Gonzalo García
    • Italy Renato Giammarioli
    • Italy Davide Giazzon
    • Italy Kelly Haimona
    • Italy Tommaso Iannone
    • Italy Andrea Lovotti
    • Italy Andrea Manici
    • Italy Johan Meyer
    • Italy Maxime Mbanda
    • Italy Matteo Minozzi
    • Italy Federico Mori
    • Italy Luciano Orquera
    • Italy Roberto Quartaroli
    • Italy Samuele Pace
    • Italy Edoardo Padovani
    • Italy Guglielmo Palazzani
    • Italy Sami Panico
    • Italy Salvatore Perugini
    • Italy Jake Polledri
    • Italy Matteo Pratichetti
    • Italy Lorenzo Romano
    • Italy Federico Ruzza
    • Italy Jacopo Sarto
    • Italy Leonardo Sarto
    • Italy Fabio Semenzato
    • Italy Josh Sole
    • Italy Cristian Stoian
    • Italy Tito Tebaldi
    • Italy Giulio Toniolatti
    • Italy Jimmy Tuivaiti
    • Italy Dries van Schalkwyk
    • Italy Giovanbattista Venditti
    • Italy Marcello Violi
    • Italy Michele Visentin
    • Italy Samuela Vunisa
    • Italy Giosuè Zilocchi
    • ItalyUnited States Tommaso Boni
    • Moldova Andrei Mahu
    • New Zealand Kurt Baker
    • New Zealand Brendon Leonard
    • New Zealand Mils Muliaina
    • Romania Alexandru Țăruș
    • Samoa Failaga Afamasaga
    • Samoa Sinoti Sinoti
    • Tonga Latu Latunipulu

    Season records

    Pro12
    Season Pos Played Won Drawn Lost Bonus Points
    2012–1312th2200221010
    2013–1412th225215529
    2014–1512th223019315
    2015–1611th225017424
    2016–1712th223019719

    Pro14
    Season Conference Pos Played Won Drawn Lost Bonus Points
    2017–18Conference A7th217014836
    2018–19Conference A7th213018719
    2019–20Conference A6th153111721
    2020–21Conference A6th164012117

    European Rugby Challenge Cup
    Season Pool/Round Pos Played Won Drawn Lost Bonus Points
    2014–15Pool 53rd620408
    2015–16Pool 42nd6303113
    2017–18Pool 33rd610548
    2018–19Pool 43rd6303214
    2019–20Pool 43rd6213313

    Heineken Cup / European Rugby Champions Cup
    Season Pool/Round Pos Played Won Drawn Lost Bonus Points
    2012–13Pool 34th600611
    2013–14Pool 34th600600
    2016–17Pool 24th600600

    Personnel honours and records

    (correct as of 24 Dec 2022)

    Bold indicates active player

    Category Player Total
    Tries Dries Van Schalkwyk 24
    Appearances Guglielmo Palazzani 161
    Points Carlo Canna 717
    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.