Benetton Rugby

Benetton Rugby

Full name	Benetton Rugby
Union	Federazione Italiana Rugby
Nickname	Leoni (Lions)
Founded	1932 (1932)
Location	Treviso, Italy
Ground	Stadio Comunale di Monigo (Capacity: 5,000)
President	Antonio Pavanello
Coach	Calum MacRae
Captain(s)	Sebastian Negri Michele Lamaro
League	United Rugby Championship
2024–25	10th (Scottish/Italian Shield: 2nd)
1st kit 2nd kit
Official website
www.benettonrugby.it
Current season

Benetton Rugby, also known as Benetton Treviso,^[1] is an Italian professional rugby union team based in Treviso, Veneto which competes in the United Rugby Championship, the European Rugby Challenge Cup and European Champions Cup. Treviso rugby team was founded in 1932 and has won 15 Italian national championships. The team has been owned by the Benetton clothing company since 1979. Treviso have competed in the United Rugby Championship (formerly the Pro14 and Pro12) since 2010, and have previously competed in the Italian domestic championship.

Treviso have supplied many players to the Italian national team, such as Alessandro Zanni and Leonardo Ghiraldini. Conversely, several notable foreign internationals have played for Treviso, including Rugby World Cup winners Craig Green, John Kirwan and Michael Lynagh.

The club's president is Antonio Pavanello, elected in December 2025.^[2]

The club has also a women's section established in 1982, known as Red Panthers, which has won 16 national championships.^[3]

Treviso rugby team was founded in 1932. The club won its first honour when it took the 1956 Italian premiership. Benetton Treviso won its first Italian Cup in 1970 and in 1978 won the Italian premiership again. The year after Benetton became the main sponsor, the team's name became "Benetton Rugby Treviso". Treviso won the domestic premiership in 1983, then again in 1989 and in the 1992 season.

Benetton Treviso Rugby turned professional after 1995. They dominated the Italian league from 1997 until 2010, winning the championship 10 times (1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010) during those 14 seasons and twice finishing second.^[4] They also won the Italian Cup in 1998.

Benetton Treviso has competed in the Heineken Cup competition almost every year since the competition began in 1995 along with the professional era. Benetton Treviso competed in the inaugural 1995–96 Heineken Cup, winning one game and losing one. The following season they played four matches, winning one game. In the 1998–99 Heineken Cup, they won three games. Benetton Treviso spent the 2000–01 and 2002–03 seasons in the European Challenge Cup, but have appeared in the Heineken Cup in each season since then. They won half of their games during the 2004–05 Heineken Cup, but won only one match in the following four seasons (at Newport Gwent Dragons in 2007). In the 2009–10 Heineken Cup opener, they defeated reigning French Top 14 champions Perpignan 9–8 in Treviso.

Following the 2009–10 season, Treviso left the Italian domestic competition and in 2010–11 was one of two Italian teams to join the Celtic League to play against clubs from Ireland, Wales and Scotland. The new league was to be known as the Pro12. Both Italian teams were guaranteed places annually into the Heineken Cup, which had previously been awarded to the two top teams in the domestic Italian National Championship of Excellence.^[5] An agreement had been reached in early March 2010 to allow two Italian teams a place in the Celtic League. In 2010, it was proposed that Aironi and a new team, Praetorians Roma, would join,^[6] but Treviso were nominated instead. Treviso and a combination of Duchi Nord-Ovest rugby clubs could not agree to form one regional representative club and lost out in the first round of bidding.^[7] However, Pretorians Roma failed to satisfy financial criteria, and Treviso instead joined the Pro12.^[8]

Treviso finished their first two season in the Pro12 (2010–11 and 2011–12) in 10th place, while in the 2012–13 season they finished 7th with 50 points. In the next three seasons, Treviso performed poorly, ending 11th, 11th and 12th out of twelve teams. After that, a new head coach was engaged for the 2016/2017 season, the New Zealander Kieran Crowley. The former All Black formed a new coaching team with two ex-Italian internationals, Marco Bortolami and Fabio Ongaro. Treviso finished the season in 10th place.

In 2017/2018, the championship was joined by two South Africans teams, becoming the Pro14, and was divided into two conferences. This season Treviso nearly reached the European Rugby Champions Cup play-offs, ending 5th in the conference with 55 points. For first time since Treviso joined this league the club has been able to record more wins than losses (11 against 10).

Ahead of the 2017/18 season, Benetton Rugby Treviso was renamed Benetton Rugby. In the 2022/23 season it founded a U23 academy and a regional U19 academy.^[9]

• Italian Championship:
  • Champions: 15 (1956, 1978, 1983, 1989, 1992, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010)
• Coppa Italia:
  • Champions: 4 (1970, 1998, 2005, 2010)
• Italian Super Cup:
  • Champions: 2 (2006, 2009)
• Pro14 Rainbow Cup
  • Champions: (2021)
• United Rugby Championship Scottish/Italian Shield
  • Runner Up: (2022-23), (2023-24)

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts	Qualification
1	Stormers (Q)	16	12	0	4	450	284	+166	57	38	8	0	56	Qualification for the Champions Cup and knockout stage
2	Glasgow Warriors (Q)	16	11	0	5	413	299	+114	62	41	9	2	55
3	Lions	16	10	1	5	508	418	+90	70	62	9	2	53
4	Leinster	16	10	0	6	416	349	+67	62	48	11	2	53
5	Munster	16	10	0	6	365	333	+32	55	45	8	3	51
6	Cardiff	16	10	0	6	314	316	−2	45	45	6	4	50
7	Bulls	16	10	0	6	467	368	+99	67	53	8	1	49
8	Ulster	16	9	0	7	434	356	+78	62	51	8	3	47
9	Connacht	16	8	0	8	390	383	+7	54	54	8	4	44	Qualification for the Challenge Cup
10	Sharks (E)	16	6	1	9	367	402	−35	55	53	7	3	36
11	Ospreys (E)	16	6	2	8	335	366	−31	50	56	4	3	35
12	Edinburgh (E)	16	6	0	10	333	398	−65	52	60	5	4	33
13	Benetton(E)	16	6	2	8	301	402	−101	37	56	4	1	33
14	Dragons (E)	16	3	3	10	300	422	−122	40	62	3	4	25
15	Scarlets (E)	16	4	1	11	306	398	−92	44	56	2	4	24
16	Zebre Parma (E)	16	2	0	14	274	479	−205	37	69	3	4	15

Benetton Treviso joined the Celtic League for the 2010–11 season.

The team play at the Stadio Comunale di Monigo in Treviso, 4 km northwest of the city centre. The stadium has two covered stands and a capacity of 5,000.

The staff for the 2025–26 season is:^[11]

• Sports director – Antonio Pavanello
• Head coach – Calum MacRae
• Assistant coach – Salvatore Costanzo
• Assistant coach – Peter Wilkins
• Assistant coach – Andrea Marcato
• Assistant coach – Dewald Senekal
• Team Manager – Enrico Ceccato
• Assistant Team Manager – Corniel Els
• Trainer – Jim Molony − Alberto Botter – Mario Disetti – Giorgio Da Lozzo – Riccardo Ton – Alessandro Troncon - Alberto Antonelli
• Video analyst – Nicola Gatto − Mattia Geromel

Former players who have played for Benetton and have caps for Italy

Former players who have played for Benetton and have caps for their Representative Team

Treviso is an executive member of the historical territorial representative of I Dogi (the Doges) that have recovered in 2015 and represents several clubs in Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia.^[16] Currently no provision is made for a selection Seniors who take the field with the shirt of The Doges: to represent its brand and colors are at this stage the representative under-14, under-16 male and female under-18 male and female managed by Veneto Regional Committee. May occur during the right conditions, there is still the desire to be able to field, even if it is currently not a priority.^[17]

In the past, Dogi was a historical invitational team that included the best players of Triveneto, area of Italy in which this sport is very widespread. The team was founded on 17 December 1973 in Treviso, and played its last game on 17 November 1993. In twenty years they played 22 games with teams of international level, collecting 15 victories. The selection shirt was red, with golden edges.

Since November 2023, the Franchise has also had a women's team, which plays official tests with Spanish team.^[18]

• Pro14
• Heineken Cup
• European Challenge Cup
• Top12
• Coppa Italia

• Official website