A New Season - Part 1 (The Franchises)

So much has changed in the world of Italian rugby. Since Marzio Innocenti took the helm of Italian rugby just over 100 days ago we have seen a new national coach installed, Rovigo win the Top10, Benetton win the Rainbow Cup, the re-launch of the Pro14 & the U20s impressing in their delayed Six Nations Championship. All of this has been followed by a flurry of moves that has seen players, young and old, moving into, out of and around the country. So much has happened that it would be wrong of me to try and fit it all into one blog post. For this reason I’ve decided to split it into 3, starting with the United Rugby Championship franchises.

THE FRANCHISES

Both Benetton and Zebre enter the newly named United Rugby Championship (URC) with both a sense of optimism and trepidation. Benetton enter after winning their first piece of European silverware but without a seasoned fly-half. Zebre arrive with a streamlined squad full of young Italian talent but lacking in experience. Adding in the new format of the tournament and the addition of the South African teams makes for an unpredictable season for the Italian outfits.

BENETTON

Benetton winning the Rainbow Cup was a thought unimaginable to most rugby fans at the end of last season's Pro14. Despite an unbeaten streak on their way to the final, I still found myself settling in on match-day with the highest of hopes that Benetton could lose admirably enough to prove some doubters wrong. What happened will go down in Italian rugby history as one of the finest performances ever by an Italian side. It was a complete performance, without fear and full of passion, helped largely by the roaring home support that made the noise of 10 times their number. On that day a benchmark was well and truly set for Italian teams of the future.

A special day for 'I Leoni'

Though that special day still lingers in the minds of many Benetton fans a lot has changed since. Kieran Crowley has left for the national setup, as has Marius Goosen, leaving Marco Bortolami holding the reigns in his first stint as head coach. Here lies the first unknown element of Benetton’s fortune. Will Bortolami stick with the style of play that worked so well towards the end of last season or will he look to stamp his own mark on the team? The addition of the vastly experienced Paul Gustard will surely add a bite to their defensive display, while in attack he has added his old chum Andrea Masi after a successful spell leading the Wasps academy team. This all suggests a style of play that is aggressive both in defence and attack. 

Even if these two elements of Benetton’s game flourish it is the set-piece that is likely to define their season. The loss of Marco Riccioni to Saracens will be a huge loss to Benetton’s effectiveness in the scrum. Despite the emergence of Thomas Gallo and the arrival of Nahuel Chaparro, the options at prop look depleted. Simone Ferrari, Federico Zani and Cherif Traore all spent the best part of last season on the sidelines and it could be that Fabio Ongaro (as forwards coach) looks to permit players Filippo Alongi and Matteo Drudi to fill in if the scrum begins creaking early on in the season.

The second unknown of Benetton’s fortunes is their ability to exist without a host of experienced players who left at the end of last season. Jayden Hayward, Marco Barbini and Alberto Sgarbi in particular were fathers of the team and will be just as missed behind the scenes as they are on the pitch. This does create the opportunity for a new group of leaders. In particular fans will be looking to players from the younger generation such as Michele Lamaro, who has already captained the side and will be co-captain for the upcoming season at only 23 years old. An interesting development to watch out for over the season will be how the young Italian leaders interact with the more experienced South African players such as captain Dewaldt Duvenage, Irne Herbst, Corniel Els and new arrival Carl Wegner.

The third and biggest unknown is who will play at fly-half. When the news broke that Tommaso Allan was leaving for Harlequins it seemed logical. It was obvious that Paulo Garbisi’s performances, with the national team and Benetton, warranted him playing a central role in the clubs future. When the news broke that Paulo Garbisi was leaving for Montpellier it seemed like a cruel joke. Enough has been written about how excellent Garbisi is as a player but it is also his attitude that made him such an exciting player to have at Benetton. His reaction to the Rainbow Cup win highlighted this. In his man of the match interview he was already looking forward by stating his desire for that kind of performance to become the norm at Benetton going into the new season. Seb Negri recalled that when Garbisi left the pitch after being substituted, the first thing he said was how disappointed he was to miss 3 kicks at goal. This desire for improvement is something that radiates throughout the team. This all leaves Bortolami with a massive headache. Young Argentine Tomas Albornoz was brought in as a back up and it is a risk to think that U20 Italian fly-half Leonardo Marin is going to make an immediate impact like Garbisi did. Other options include one of the South African newcomers Andries Coetzee or Rhyno Smith playing out of position in the hope they can quickly adapt to life at 10. Maybe the best option is Eduardo Padovani, who certainly has the skills to play there but looks to have finally found his best position and form on the wing. It is likely that we will see a lot of chopping and changing throughout the season which is never a good thing in such an important position. At least Benetton have a dependable scrum-half in Duvenage, along with a frighteningly talented back-row that should be able to secure lots of quick ball.

Monster left foot from new signing Albornoz

The idea of winning a trophy again in the upcoming season is highly unlikely. A more reasonable idea of success would be for a season where Benetton manage to be competitive in the URC while also getting to the knockout stages of the Challenge cup. To add to this we want to continue to see the development of players like Lamaro, Marco Zanon and Niccolo Cannone, who are likely to be a keystone in the architecture of future Benetton teams.

ZEBRE

After a disappointing Rainbow Cup Zebre will be hoping that the return of some experienced heads along with an influx of young hopefuls will be the formula for a promising season ahead. The return of club captain Tommaso Castello after over 2 years out will be a massive boost along with the returns of Giulio Bisegni, Tommaso Boni and Mattia Bellini after long periods sidelined. 4 players join from Calvisano. Young talents Andrea Zambonin and Gabriele Venditti will be looking to fill the giant hole in the second row left by Ian Nagle, Mick Kearney and Samuel Ortis (the latter moving the opposite way to Calvisano). Also Italian internationals Federico Mori, Jacapo Trulla and (most likely) Christian Stoian become full Zebre players after appearing sporadically as permit players last season (although rumours are circulating of Mori following Garbisi’s path to the Top14). 

Last season was definitely a step in the right direction for Zebre, considering the amount of injuries they had, on top of the players leaving during the international window. Many people have talked about how admirable the performances were of players who had very little experience at the Pro14 level. This all resulted in Michael Bradley being voted Pro14 coach of the season. This season Zebre will be really looking to test themselves now that they have a much larger proportion of their squad available for Bradley to work with. The format of the URC means no clashes with international windows which should benefit Zebre who usually lose the majority of their starting XV to the national team. With valid competition for every position, a much more settled feeling in Parma and a honing of their own attacking style of play, Zebre will be hopeful of surprising a few teams throughout the campaign.

The Zebre squad this season, more than ever before, resembles a team thats purpose is to promote Italian rugby.  Where once Zebre looked to bring older Italian players back from abroad (e.g. Festuccia, Bortolami & the Bergamasco brothers) the team is now looking to recruit the best from the Top10 and U20 team. Just 2 of the squad (Leavasa Jr. & Laloifi) are unavailable to play for Italy after the release of Alexandru Tarus, Jamie Elliott and Joshua Renton (along with Kearney and Nagle). This suggests that for the time being the Federation will play an important factor in making the club sustainable financially. Whilst this may be a risk in terms of results, it will surely help in providing a clear path of development for Italian talents. 

The decision to disband the national academy means that many of the young Italian players who were plying their trade there will now move to Parma to train with the franchise. For some players this could be detrimental to their development, due to a lack of game time, but for players like U20 captain Luca Andreani and Ion Neculai, who have both signed federal contracts, this will provide them with an opportunity to compete at a much higher level. Ion Neculai in particular looks like he could have a huge impact in coming years. 6ft2in and 20st at 20 years old is mightily impressive and his performances in the U20 Six Nations showed that with some fine tuning he could be an almost unplayable front rower.

Luca Andreani & Ion Neculai join the Zebre pack

Zebre’s gameplan has always been centred around an attacking game with plenty of offloads. This style of play has often seen them suffer heavy defeats but if injuries are avoided then their best XV can do damage. Players like Renato Giammarioli, Giovanni Licata and Pierre Bruno all add a spark to the team but too often their form is interrupted by injury. With all three now back in action I hope to see a lot from them this campaign. Each finds themselves skirting around the edges of the national team which should add that extra element of motivation.

The title says it all

For the Zebre this season’s success may be defined not on results but on development. If we see signs that the young players are able to adapt quickly to life in the URC then we can be content in the fact that the structure of Italian rugby is starting to work positively. What Zebre should be aiming for is that they cut out the losses by more than 25+ points. If the club is going to garner the interest and support of the people in Parma then their performances will have to resemble that of a team playing for every single point.