Rugby Viadana

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rugby Viadana
Founded	1970
Union	Federazione Italiana Rugby
Location	Viadana, Italy
Ground(s)	Stadio Luigi Zaffanella
Capacity	3,000
Coach	Jim Love
Captain	Kaine Robertson
League	Super 10
Home colours		Away colours
Official website
www.rugbyviadana.it

Rugby Viadana is an Italian rugby union club currently competing in Super 10. They are based in Viadana (province Mantua, region Lombardy). The club was established in 1970, and has since won the Italian championship in 2002, and the Coppa Italia three times. They also compete in European rugby competitions and were runners-up in the European Shield in 2004. Viadana plays in yellow and black.

Contents 1 History 2 Current squad 3 Notable Players 4 Honours 5 Statistics 5.1 European Challenge Cup 5.2 Heineken Cup 6 See also 7 External links

[edit] History

They were founded in 1970 as a rugby sector in the Vitellianense Cebogas Multisports Club by some ex-Rugby Parma players. They started in the lowest possible league Seria D, the lower category.

In 1980-1981 Viadana won Seria B but after three years the team were relegated back to Seria C. But they bounced back the following year and won promotion back to Seria B. 1986-1987 they won promotion to Seria 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 Seria A in 1998-1999. In their first season Viadana won the Italian Cup and made it to the semi-final of the play-offs. In 2000-2001 they finished third in the league but again lost in the semi-final play-offs to Benetton Treviso.

In 2002 the Italian championship was reformed with the birth of Super 10. During this season Viadana finished first and beat favourites Benetton Treviso in the play-offs to win the title for the first time. They were the first team from outside a provincial capital to do so. They won the Italian Cup a second time in 2003.

In 2004 they became the first (and so far only) Italian team to have made the final of a European competition when they lost the European Shield final 19-25 to Montpellier. In 2007 they defeated Cammi Calvisano to win their third Coppa Italia.

[edit] Current squad

Nat. Position Player PR Miguel Alonso PR Mattia Cagna PR Andrè de Bonis PR Luigi Milani PR Luca Redolfini PR Ignazio Rouvet PR Plinio Sciamanna HK Luigi Ferraro HK Andrea Moretti HK Roberto Santamaria LK Christian Bezzi LK Aldo Birchall LK Ockart Booyse LK Jaco Erasmus LK Quintin Geldenhuys LK Lance Persico LK Mario Vella LK Dion Waller FL Samuel Harding FL Roberto Talotti N8 Andrea Benatti N8 Josh Sole

Nat. Position Player SH Steven Bortolussi SH Graig McGrath FH Calvin Howarth FH Corrado Pilat FH Dimitri Tonni CE Matthew Harvey CE Hayden Reid CE Kaine Robertson CE Claudio Spadaro WG Andrea Accorsi WG Garry Law WG Roberto Mariani WG Samuele Pace WG Hayden Pedersen FB Ross Curle FB Stuart Moffat

^[1]

[edit] Notable Players

• Kaine Robertson (Italy)
  
• Christian Bezzi (Italy)
  
• Samuele Pace (Italy)
  
• Josh Sole (Italy)
  
• Tievita Tiueti (Tonga)
  
• Sialosi Vaili (Samoa)
  
• Craig McGrath (New Zealand)
  

[edit] Honours

• Italian championship:
  • Champions: 2002

• Coppa Italia:
  • Champions: 2000, 2003, 2007

• European Shield:
  • Runners-up: 2004

• Division 2:
  • Promoted: 1998-99

• Division 3:
  • Promoted: 1986-87, 1992-93

• Division 4:
  • Promoted: 1980-81, 1984-85

• Division 5:
  • Promoted: 1971-72

[edit] Statistics

[edit] European Challenge Cup

Season	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against
2000-01	4	0	0	4	78	147
2001-02	6	2	0	4	120	210
(Shield) 2003-04	7	5	0	2	250	166
2003-04	2	1	0	1	41	61
2004-05	4	3	0	1	184	50
2005-06	6	0	0	6	81	244
2006-07	2	1	0	1	33	38

[edit] Heineken Cup

Season	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against
2002-03	6	0	0	6	128	348

[edit] See also

• Rugby union in Italy

[edit] External links

• Official site
• Rugbysti Gialloneri – Viadana Rugby Secondary Teams Official Site (in italian)
• European Rugby Cup: Viadana

v • d • e Super 10 Amatori Catania • Benetton Treviso • Calvisano • Capitolina • Gran Parma • Rugby Parma • Petrarca • Rovigo • Casino' di Venezia • Viadana

v • d • e Heineken Cup 2007-08 Teams Benetton Treviso • Bourgoin • Bristol • Biarritz • Cardiff Blues • Clermont • Edinburgh • Gloucester Rugby • Glasgow Warriors • Harlequins • Leicester Tigers • Leinster • Llanelli Scarlets • London Irish • London Wasps • Munster • Newport Gwent Dragons • Ospreys • Perpignan • Saracens • Stade Français • Toulouse • Ulster • Viadana Seasons 1995-96 • 1996-97 • 1997-98 • 1998-99 • 1999-00 • 2000-01 • 2001-02 • 2002-03 • 2003-04 • 2004-05 • 2005-06 • 2006-07 • 2007-08 • 2008-09 Others Heineken Cup finals • Heineken Cup history • List of Heineken Cup broadcasters • Heineken Cup records and statistics www.ercrugby.com

v • d • e Rugby union in Italy Governing body Federazione Italiana Rugby National teams Italy • A • 7's • U-20 • U-18 • Schoolboys • Women's Competitions Super 10 • Coppa Italia • Serie A • Serie B • Serie C