Rugby Viadana 1970 is an Italian

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

club based in

Viadana Viadana may refer to: Surname * Lodovico Grossi da Viadana (c. 1560 – 1627), Italian composer, teacher, and Franciscan friar * Gilberto Viadana (born 1973), Italian figure skater Other * Viadana, Lombardy, a town in the province of Mantua, Lom ...

( province of Mantua, Lombardy). The club was established in 1970, and has since won the Italian championship in 2002, and the

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

three times. They also compete in European rugby competitions and were runners-up in the European Shield in 2004. Viadana plays in

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and

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. The club did not compete professionally between 2010 and 2012 as they focused their efforts on Aironi. Aironi was based at Viadana's home ground and represented a number of regional teams in the multi-national

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organisation, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places part ...

. The FIR withdrew Aironi's licence to play at the end of the 2012, so Viadana reformed as a professional team will play in Italy's top division, the National championship of Excellence, from the 2012–13 season and currently in the

Top12 The Top10, known as the Peroni Top10 for sponsorship reasons, and formerly Top 12, is Italy's top level professional men's rugby union competition. The Top 10 is run by Federazione Italiana Rugby (FIR) and is contested by 10 teams as of the 2019� ...

History

They were founded in 1970 as a rugby sector in the Vitellianense Cebogas Multisports Club by some ex Rugby Parma F.C. players. They started in the lowest possible league, Serie D. In 1980–81 Viadana won Serie B but after three years the team were relegated back to Serie C. But they bounced back the following year and won promotion back to Serie B. 1986–87 they won promotion to Serie A2 and finished sixth in their first year. However they were relegated back the following year and didn't return for three years. They finally won promotion to Serie A in 1998–99. In their first season Arix Viadana won the

and made it to the semifinal of the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...

. In 2000–01 they finished third in the league but again lost in the semifinal playoffs to Benetton Treviso. In 2002 the Italian championship was reformed with the birth of Super 10 (now

). During this season Arix Viadana finished first and beat favourites Benetton Treviso, in the playoffs, and

Calvisano Calvisano ( Brescian: ) is a ''comune'' in the Italian province of Brescia, in Lombardy. It is the manufacturing base of Lones Spa, manufacturer of Fly Flot shoes. Agritech is a known fiberglass silos company. Sport Its rugby union Rugby ...

, in the final, to win the title of Italian champion for the first time. They were the first team from outside a provincial capital to do so. They won the

a second time in 2003. In 2004 they became the first

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

team to have made the final of a

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

an competition when they lost the European Shield final 19-25 to Montpellier. In 2007 they defeated Cammi Calvisano to win their third

. In 2008, despite their relatively experienced team, Viadana were beaten in the semifinals by Benetton Treviso and subsequently lost out on a lucrative Heineken Cup place. In the 2008–09 and 2009–10

Super 10 The Super 10 was a rugby union football tournament featuring ten teams from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Tonga, and Western Samoa. The competition ran for three years from 1993 to 1995 and was the predecessor of Super 12 and Super 14, ...

seasons Montepaschi Viadana reaches the final championship, losing both times against Benetton Treviso. Viadana were the largest shareholders in Aironi, a new team that competed in the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

and 2012–12

. Many of the club's top players joined Aironi on its formation. As of June 2010 it was announced that will the impending establishment of Aironi the club would no longer compete as a professional club. The Senior and Under 20 teams would be merged with GranDucato Parma Rugby. Viadana would continue as an independent club but only below Under 20 level. At the end of the 2012 Aironi's licence to play in the

Pro12 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

was withdrawn by the FIR. Aironi's place in the Pro12 was taken by newly formed

Zebre Zebre Parma (, meaning "Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by the ...

, a team based in

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second mos ...

. Many Aironi players joined Zebre on its formation. Viadana was then reformed as a semi-professional team for the 2012–13 season of the National championship of Excellence, the reformed Italian championship from 2010, with a number of Aironi's players joining them, as well as the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Rowland Phillips. They won three titles of the Excellence Trophy in the 2012–13, 2015–16 and 2016–17 seasons. The 2012–13 was the last season of Silvano Melegari, and of the Arix Group, as president of the club, after 20 years of history. In the summer of 2014, a new company is at the helm of the team, the Rugby Viadana 1970 S.r.l., founded to keep the club at the highest national level, despite economic difficulties. They currently compete in

Honours

* Italian championship ** Champions (1): 2001–02 ** ''Runners-up (3)'': 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10 *

** Champions (3): 1999–2000, 2002–03, 2006–07 ** ''Runners-up (2)'': 2003–04, 2004–05 * Excellence Trophy ** Champions (3): 2012–13, 2015–16, 2016–17 * European Shield ** ''Runners-up (1)'': 2003–04

Current squad

The Viadana squad for 2022–23:

Selected former players

Italian players

Former players who have played for Viadana and have caps for Italy: * Matías Agüero * Andrea Benatti * Cristian Bezzi * Luca Bigi * Giorgio Bronzini *

Pablo Canavosio Pablo Canavosio (born 26 December 1981 in Córdoba, Argentina) is an Italian Argentine rugby union footballer. Canavosio played for Rovigo, Calvisano, Castres Olympique and Aironi. His usual position is at scrum half or wing. Canavosio has be ...

Sandro Ceppolino Alessandro Diego Ceppolino, known as Sandro Ceppolino (born 8 August 1974 in Villa Ballester), is a former Argentine-born Italian rugby union player and a current coach. He played as a centre. Ceppolino played at Universitário de Córdoba, in Ar ...

* Carlo Del Fava * Santiago Dellapè *

Jaco Erasmus Jaco Erasmus (born 31 July 1979) is a South African-born Italian rugby union naturalized player. He plays as a flanker. He played for Rugby Viadana where he gained qualification for the Italian national team. In March 2008 he received a call up ...

Ignacio Fernández Rouyet Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet (born 22 October 1978, in Buenos Aires) is an Argentina-born Italian rugby union player. Rouyet, who is a prop, played for Rugby Viadana before signing for Benetton Treviso in 2009. He made his debut for Italy against ...

Joshua Furno Joshua Furno (born 21 October 1989) is an Italian rugby union player who plays Lock for US Dax in Pro D2. He also represents Italy as a member of the Italian national team. Career Raffaele Joshua Furno was born in Australia but grew up in It ...

* Quintin Geldenhuys *

Andrea Masi Andrea Masi (born 30 March 1981) is a retired Italian rugby union footballer. His usual position was in the centres but he has also played at fly-half and at full-back. His last club before retirement was the English Premiership club Wasps. In ...

* Matteo Mazzantini * Ian McKinley * Andrea Moretti * Carlos Nieto *

Corrado Pilat Corrado Pilat (born 24 September 1974 in Belluno) is a former Italian international rugby union player and a current coach. He played as a fullback and as a fly-half. He played professionally for Benetton Treviso, from 1998/99 to 200/01, where h ...

* Samuele Pace * Gilberto Pavan * Riccardo Pavan * Roberto Pedrazzi * Aaron Persico * Matthew Phillips * Matteo Pratichetti * Roberto Quartaroli * Juan Manuel Queirolo * Kaine Robertson * Lorenzo Romano * Federico Ruzza * Diego Saccà * Mario Savi * Stefano Saviozzi * Michele Sepe *

Josh Sole Josh Sole (born 15 February 1980) is a retired New Zealand born rugby union player, currently playing for Heartbeat Tigers Rugby Union in Dubai. He has been capped for the Italian national team, making his debut in 2005 against Argentina ...

* Cherif Traorè *

Pietro Travagli Pietro Travagli (born 28 April 1981) is an Italian rugby union player. He plays as a scrum-half. He plays for Petrarca in the Top12. He was called up to the Italy squad for the 2008 Six Nations Championship. On 7 February 2011, he joined Airo ...

Overseas players

Former players who have played for Viadana and have caps for their respective country: * Germán Araoz * Julio-César García *

Juan Cruz Guillemaín Juan Cruz Guillemaín (born 21 August 1992) is an Argentine rugby union footballer who plays as a lock for the Argentine Super Rugby side and the Argentina national rugby union team. Career Cruz started his career playing for his local club ...

* Javier Rojas * Tom Bowman * Lloyd Johansson *

Phil Murphy Philip Dunton Murphy (born August 16, 1957) is an American financier, diplomat, and politician serving as the 56th governor of New Jersey since January 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the United States ambassador to Germa ...

* Tom Beim *

Isoa Neivua Isoa Coalala Neivua (born 7 June 1978 in Mosimosi, Sigatoka, Fiji) is a Fijian rugby union player. He plays as a wing or centre. Career Playing in Fiji, he moved from Navosa to Nadroga in 2003 to get more chance of being spotted by for the nati ...

* – Luca Tramontin * Dion Waller * Mark Finlay * Brett Harvey * Sam Harding *

Tana Umaga Jonathan Ionatana Falefasa Umaga (; ; born 27 May 1973) is a New Zealand former rugby union footballer and former captain of the national team, the All Blacks. Since 2016 he has been coach of the Blues in the Super Rugby competition. He play ...

* Daniel Farani * Dominic Fe'aunati * Ali Koko * Siaosi Vaili * Stuart Moffat * Inoke Afeaki *

Pierre Hola Pierre Hola (born 9 June 1978) is an Australia-born rugby union footballer. He has represented Tonga and currently plays his club rugby in the Australian Shute Shield for Eastwood. Career Hola made his debut for Tonga in September 1998 in a ma ...

* Dave Tiueti * Nick Civetta * Adrian Durston * Sonny Parker

Statistics

European Challenge Cup (1996–2014)

European Shield

Heineken Cup (1995–2014)

References

External links

Official site
{{Rugby union in Italy Italian rugby union teams Rugby clubs established in 1970 1970 establishments in Italy Sport in Lombardy