The Rugby Roma Olimpic Club 1930 is an Italian

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

team, based in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. The club won 5 Italian titles, in 1935, 1937, 1948, 1949 and 2000, the

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

in 1998 and competed in 58 editions of the Italian top tier championship (now, 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 ...

) from his foundation in 1930 as Rugby Roma. From 1969 to 2011 Rugby Roma's home ground was the

Stadio Tre Fontane Stadio Tre Fontane is a sports stadium located in Rome, Italy. It is the home ground of rugby union side Rugby Roma Olimpic, who play in the Super 10 competition. It currently has a capacity of 4,000, although there are plans to redevelop and ex ...

, located in the Roman South-western suburb of

EUR The euro (symbol: €; currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the euro area or, more commonly, the eurozone. The euro is divided into 10 ...

. In the last 2010–11 Excellence season Rugby Roma Olimpic's

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

es were Danie de Villiers and Jaco Stoumann led the team to conquer the Excellence Trophy. In 2011 the club is disbanded. In the same year the name is changed to Rugby Roma Olimpic 1930, but without participating in any league. In 2015 the new Rugby Roma Olimpic Club 1930 compete in 2015–16

Serie C The Serie C (), officially known as Serie C NOW for sponsorship purposes, is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing ...

season, conquering the promotion to Serie B. The club currently plays in

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

History

The Rugby Roma was founded on 21 October 1930, from the ashes of A.S. Roma Rugby (1929) and S.S. Lazio Rugby (1927), clubs associated with the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

clubs of the Italian capital, when, after two seasons bankruptcy, under the management of the football clubs the decision was taken to form a separate organisation devoted to

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

. The colours adopted were those of the

Club Atlético San Isidro The Club Atlético de San Isidro (mostly known for its acronym CASI) is an Argentina, Argentine sports club based in the city of San Isidro, Buenos Aires, San Isidro in Greater Buenos Aires. Originally established as a association football, footb ...

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

and

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

. The new team were soon successful, winning the Italian championship in the 1934–35 season and again in 1936–37, before financial difficulties restricted ambitions during the war years. In 1937 the team is incorporated into

A.S. Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: ) is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its exis ...

and reconstituted in 1940 like Amatori Rugby Roma. In 1945 the club returns to the name of Rugby Roma for a year before merging with the Olympic '44 (a rugby club based in Rome) and become Rugby Roma Olimpic. This resurgent post war team were champions again in 1947–48 and 1948–49, before further lean years throughout the 1950s and 1960s, during which the team were relegated. The subsequent years saw the arrival of a new

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

Dick Greenwood John Richard Heaton Greenwood (born 11 September 1940) is an English former rugby union player and coach. A flanker, he played for Waterloo, Cambridge University, Lancashire and . He later coached Preston Grasshoppers and England. Biography ...

during the 1970s. The club also toured

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

in 1976, playing games against teams like

and

Scorpions RFC The Scorpions RFC is an invitation rugby team in East Africa that was established upon principles that have many parallels with the Barbarian F.C. in terms of values, playing style, selection policy and the lack of a home ground. The team wears b ...

. Rugby Roma Olimpic qualified for the Italian

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 eithe ...

in 1985, before further difficulties resulted in another relegation. The next boom period led to

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

imports, victory in the

in 1998 and a fifth Italian championship in 2000 before yet another financial crisis resulted in relegation once more. In the last 2010–11 Excellence season Rugby Roma Olimpic's head coaches were Danie de Villiers and Jaco Stoumann led the team to conquer the Excellence Trophy. In 2011 the club is disbanded. In the same year the name is changed to Rugby Roma Olimpic 1930, but without participating in any league. In 2015 the new Rugby Roma Olimpic Club 1930 compete in 2015–16

season, conquering the promotion to

. The club currently plays in Serie B.

Honours

* Italian championship ** Champions (5): 1934–35, 1936–37, 1947–48, 1948–49, 1999–2000 ** ''Runners-up (2)'': 1930–31, 1945–46 *

** Champions (1): 1998/99 ** ''Runners-up (1)'': 1970–71 * Excellence Trophy ** Champions (1): 2010–11

References

{{Rugby union in Italy Rugby clubs established in 1930 Sports clubs and teams in Rome Rugby union in Rome