Rugby Club I Cavalieri is a rugby union team from the city of

Prato Prato ( ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') in Tuscany, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Prato. The city lies in the northeast of Tuscany, at an elevation of , at the foot of Monte Retaia (the last peak in the Calvana ch ...

, Italy. They play 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 2 ...

having finished 2nd in the 2012–13 edition, losing to

Mogliano Rugby Mogliano Rugby 1969 is a professional Italian rugby union club founded in 1956. They are based in Mogliano Veneto (Province of Treviso), in Veneto. Champions of Italy in the 2012–13 season, they are currently competing in the Italian Top10. ...

in the final.

History

The team was formed in 2000 through the merger of three existing rugby clubs: I Sorci Verdi (the first rugby team in Prato, founded in 1958), S.S. Rugby Prato and Rugby Iolo. During the 2005–06 season, they qualified for the Serie A play-offs for the first time. Hoping for promotion to the Super 10, they won the first leg of their semi-final before losing the home leg and going out by aggregate score. In the following season, they won both legs of the semi-final before losing the final 13–10 to

Venezia Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

. In the 2008–09 Serie A tournament they were promoted to the 2009–10 version of the Super 10, after beating L'Aquila in the promotion playoff 25–18. In their first season Cavalieri ended the regular season at the fifth place of Super 10 2009–10 and achieved the right to take part in the

European Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception ...

. Cavalieri were drawn in Pool 1 Amlin Challenge Cup 2010–11 with Harlequins (ENG),

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

(IRL) and

Bayonne Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...

(FRA). The Cavalieri won their European debut against Connacht on 9 October 2010 by 23 – 21. In June 2010 Cavalieri Prato merged with other ten Tuscan rugby clubs to form "Cavalieri Toscana Rugby Eccellenza", a new rugby franchise with the aim to represent the professional élite rugby of region

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

. The team reached the play-off final of both 2011–12 and 2012–13 Eccellenza tournaments, losing the final against Cammi Calvisano and

, respectively. Due to economic and corporate problems, the troubled 2014-15 season ended with the last place in the standings and the subsequent relegation to

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

. Florence 1931, also relegated from series A to

series B A venture round is a type of funding round used for venture capital financing, by which startup companies obtain investment, generally from venture capitalists and other institutional investors. The availability of venture funding is among the ...

, acquired the title sportsman and could therefore maintain the superior category. Subsequently the president of the club, Fabrizio Tonfoni decided, together with the top management of Florence, to proceed with a merger between the clubs, with the aim of creating a more competitive team in the Serie A championship. The newly formed team took the name of Rugby Club I Medicei, based in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

in the same sports facility as the now former Florence Rugby 1931.

Notable former players

* Patricio Fuselli * Nicola Belardo *

Kris Burton Kristopher Shaun Burton (born 4 August 1980) is an Australian-born Italian international rugby union player. His regular playing positions are Fly-half and Fullback. Burton plays as a fly-half but can also turn out in the fullback position. ...

Alberto Chiesa Alberto Chiesa (born 25 February 1988) is an Italian rugby player. He represents Cavalieri Prato, with double role of player and coach, after the experience with Rugby Calvisano, an Italian rugby union club in rugby union club matches. In 201 ...

Paul Derbyshire Paul Derbyshire (born 3 November 1986) is an Italian rugby union player. Derbyshire, who is a flanker, plays club rugby for Mogliano in Top12. Derbyshire joined Benetton Treviso from Petrarca in June 2010 for their first season in the Cel ...

* Andrea De Rossi *

Edoardo Gori Edoardo Ugo Gori (born 5 March 1990, in Borgo San Lorenzo) was an Italian rugby union player and currently he played as Scrum-half. He represented Italy on 69 occasions with 5 tries. From 2010 to 2019 he played for Benetton Rugby. In 2019 ...

Marko Stanojevic Marko Peter Stanojevic (; born 1 October 1979 in Birmingham, England) is an Italian rugby union footballer. He last played on the wing for Italian Top12 club Rovigo. Before his move to Italy, he had played four seasons with Bristol in England. ...

Rima Wakarua Rima Shane Wakarua-Noema (born 25 March 1976) is a former professional rugby union footballer and coach. He played as a fly-half for North Harbour in New Zealand before moving to Italy in 1999, where he played for Leonessa, Gran Parma, I Cava ...

Billy Ngawini Billy Ngawini (born 24 August 1981) is an Italian international rugby union footballer who plays for Rugby Rovigo Delta in the Top12 and Amlin Challenge Cup in Europe. He has previously played in the National Provincial Championship and r ...

Results

* 2000–01 2nd place serie B * 2001–02 1st place serie B (promoted to serie A) * 2002–03 3rd place serie A * 2003–04 3rd place serie A * 2004–05 5th place serie A * 2005–06 2nd place serie A (lost to Futura Park Roma at playoff semifinal) * 2006–07 2nd place serie A (lost to Venezia at playoff final) * 2007–08 2nd place serie A1 (lost to L'Aquila at playoff semifinal) * 2008–09 1st place serie A1 (payoff winner to L'Aquila and serie A Italian Champion, promoted to Super 10) * 2009–10 5th place Super 10 (Amlin Challenge Cup qualifier) * 2010–11 2nd place Excellence (lost to Petrarca at playoff semifinal) * 2011–12 2nd place Excellence (lost to Calvisano at playoff final) * 2012–13 3rd place Excellence (lost to Mogliano at playoff final) * 2013–14 5th place Excellence

References

External links

Official site
{{Rugby union in Italy Rugby union teams in Italy Rugby clubs established in 2000 2000 establishments in Italy Prato