| Full name | Rugby Viadana 1970 S.r.l. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Union | Italian Rugby Federation | ||
| Founded | 1970; 55 years ago (1970) | ||
| Location | Viadana, Italy | ||
| Ground | Stadio Luigi Zaffanella (Capacity: 6,000) | ||
| Chairman | Davide Tizzi | ||
| Coach | Filippo Frati | ||
| Captain | Brian Ormson | ||
| League | Serie A Élite | ||
| |||
| Official website | |||
| www | |||
Rugby Viadana 1970 is an Italianrugby union club based inViadana (province of Mantua,Lombardy). The club was established in 1970, and has since won the Italian championship in 2002, and theCoppa Italia three times. They also compete in European rugby competitions and were runners-up in theEuropean Shield in2004. Viadana plays inyellow andblack. The club did not compete professionally between 2010 and 2012 as they focused their efforts onAironi. Aironi was based at Viadana's home ground and represented a number of regional teams in the multi-nationalCeltic League. TheFIR 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, theNational championship of Excellence, from the 2012–13 season and currently in theTop12.
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 theCoppa Italia and made it to the semifinal of theplayoffs. In 2000–01 they finished third in the league but again lost in the semifinal playoffs toBenetton Treviso.
In 2002 theItalian championship was reformed with the birth of Super 10 (nowTop12). During this season Arix Viadana finished first and beat favouritesBenetton Treviso, in the playoffs, andCalvisano, 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 theCoppa Italia a second time in 2003.
In2004 they became the firstItalian team to have made the final of aEuropean competition when they lost theEuropean Shield final 19–25 toMontpellier. In 2007 they defeatedCammi Calvisano to win their thirdCoppa Italia. In 2008, despite their relatively experienced team, Viadana were beaten in the semifinals by Benetton Treviso and subsequently lost out on a lucrativeHeineken Cup place. In the 2008–09 and 2009–10Super 10 seasons Montepaschi Viadana reaches the final championship, losing both times againstBenetton Treviso.
Viadana were the largest shareholders inAironi, a new team that competed in the2010–11 and2012–12Celtic League. 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.[1]
At the end of the 2012 Aironi's licence to play in thePro12 was withdrawn by theFIR. Aironi's place in the Pro12 was taken by newly formedZebre, a team based inParma. Many Aironi players joined Zebre on its formation.[2]
Viadana was then reformed as a semi-professional team for the 2012–13 season of theNational championship of Excellence, the reformed Italian championship from 2010, with a number of Aironi's players joining them, as well as thehead coachRowland Phillips. They won three titles of theExcellence 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 inTop12.
The Viadana squad for 2024–25:
| Viadana squad.[a][b][c] | ||
|---|---|---|
Props Hookers Locks | Back row
Scrum-halves Fly-halves | Centres Wings Fullbacks |
| (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 Viadana website.[7][8]
|
Former players who have played for Viadana and have caps for Italy:
Matías AgüeroAndrea BenattiCristian BezziLuca BigiIgnacio BrexGiorgio BronziniPablo CanavosioSandro CeppolinoCarlo Del FavaSantiago DellapèJaco ErasmusIgnacio Fernández RouyetJoshua FurnoQuintin GeldenhuysAndrea MasiMatteo MazzantiniIan McKinleyAndrea MorettiCarlos NietoCorrado PilatSamuele PaceGilberto PavanRiccardo PavanRoberto PedrazziAaron PersicoMatthew PhillipsMatteo PratichettiRoberto QuartaroliJuan Manuel QueiroloKaine RobertsonLorenzo RomanoFederico RuzzaDiego SaccàMario SaviStefano SaviozziMichele SepeJosh SoleCherif TraorèPietro TravagliFormer players who have played for Viadana and have caps for their respective country:
Germán AraozJulio-César GarcíaJuan Cruz GuillemaínJavier Rojas
Tom BowmanLloyd Johansson
Phil Murphy
Tom Beim
Isoa Neivua
–
Luca Tramontin
Dion WallerMark FinlayBrett HarveySean HohneckSam HardingTana Umaga
Daniel FaraniDominic Fe'aunatiAli KokoSiaosi Vaili
Stuart Moffat
Inoke AfeakiPierre HolaDave Tiueti
Nick Civetta
Adrian DurstonSonny Parker| Season | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000-01 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 78 | 147 |
| 2001-02 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 120 | 210 |
| 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 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 114 | 145 |
| 2008-09 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 120 | 126 |
| 2013-14 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 86 | 356 |
| Season | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003-04 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 250 | 166 |
| Season | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002-03 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 128 | 348 |
| 2007-08 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 106 | 208 |
| 2009-10 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 83 | 295 |
