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Italy propose new European club competition

Danilo Fischetti of Zebre Parma at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi on December 28, 2024 in Parma, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Levati/Getty Images)

The Italian Rugby Federation (Federazione Italiana Rugby) are open to the possibility of creating a new international club competition with the help of the Georgian, Spanish, Romanian, and Portuguese unions as stated in an interview given by its president Andrea Duodo.

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In a recent interview given to the La Gazzetta di Mantova, the newly elected chair of the FIR revealed: “We sent a proposal to Rugby Europe’s new board. It will take some time, but we are looking for the collaboration of Spain, Portugal, Romania and Georgia to make it work.”

The idea had already been discussed in the 2000s and 2010s. However, the proposal never came to fruition as most of the mentioned unions were unable to find a long-term sponsor capable of paying the travelling and accommodation expenses.

The last time an Italian club participated in an international was in 2018 when Rovigo, Viadana, Calvisano and Petrarca competed in the European Rugby Continental Shield. Since then, the Italian clubs have only played in the local competition, while the Georgians, Portuguese, Spanish and Romanian sides found the Rugby Europe Super Cup a way to better prepare their players for the Test match season.

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The Rugby Europe Super Cup kicked off in 2021 and was highlighted by former Portugal’s head coach Patrice Lagisquet as a decisive stepping stone for the European emergent Nations.

The four-time champions Georgian Black Lion franchise were invited to the EPCR Challenge Cup due to their Super Cup performances and claimed successful victories over the Scarlets and Vannes.

The FIR are looking for options and ideas to bolster their club rugby, and a seasonal international competition played against European emergent sides would fulfil that purpose.

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However, Andrea Duodo didn’t offer any specifics about how the competition would work, what teams/nations would compete in it and if it would be under Rugby Europe’s or the EPCR’s banner. It is also unclear whether the Dutch, Belgian and Czech franchises will be welcomed to the new competition.

In the last four months, the FIR have undergone a series of changes, namely Zebre’s sale and the decision to host the next U20s Men’s World Cup. More news to follow in the coming months.

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Comments

7 Comments
S
SM 71 days ago

Cheetahs, Eastern Province,Griquas and Pumas should be a part of it

K
KH 71 days ago

Adding a 3rd Italian Franchise based in Rome, a 3rd Scottish team from the Borders, a 2nd Spanish team based in Barcelona to the Super cup to make it 10 team comp, playing a full 14 match season would be a great addition.

f
fl 70 days ago

this is about clubs, not franchises.


There are already two top-flight clubs based in Rome, 1 based in the scottish borders, and two based in Barcelona.

J
JW 72 days ago

Exciting stuff. A URC europe group combined with a URC Africa group would add a great counter to the tradutional pro 10 URC teams.


Either a massive 20+ team comp or two split Super Bowl style.

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R
RedWarriors 2 hours ago
'Matches between Les Bleus and the All Blacks are rarely for the faint-hearted.'

“….after hyping themselves up for about a year and a half”


You see, this is the disrespect I am talking about. NZ immediately started this character assasination on Irish rugby after the series win “about a year and a half” before the RWC. We win in NZ and suddenly we are arrogant. Do you consider this respectful?

And please substantiate Ireland talking themselves up comment: for every supposed instance of this there is surely 100x examples of NZ talking themselves up?

We were ranked 1, but that’s not talking ourselves up. We were playing good rugby.


Re the QF: that was a one score match: if you say we ‘choked’ you are really saying that Ireland were the better team but pressure got to them on the day? That is demeaning to your own team and another example of disrespect to Ireland.


New Zealand:

-NZ’s year long prep included a wall defence that Ireland had not seen until the match.

-Insights on all players strenghts and weaknesses. The scrum coach said that he had communicated several times with Barnes about Porter. He also noted when Barnes was looking at Porter he was NOT looking at the NZ front row.

-A favourable draw meaning NZ would play Ireland in a QF, where Ireland would not have a knock out win under their belt.

-A (another) favourable scheduling meant that NZ could focus on the QF literally after the France match and focus on Ireland after they beat SA in the pool.


Ireland:

-Unfavourable draw: have to play the triple world cup champions with players having multi RWC knock out match winning caps in the QF, when Ireland DONT want to play a top 4 team.

-Unfavourable schedule: Have to play world no 5 Scotland 6-7 days before the quarter. Have to prepare for this which compares unfavourably with NZs schedule (Uruguay 9 days before QF). Both wingers get injured with no time to recover.

-Match: went 13-0 down but came back. Try held up brilliantly by Barrett and last play of the match saw Ireland move from their own 10 metre line to 10 metres from the NZ line.

Jordan himself said that the NZ line was retreating and someone needed to do something which was Whitelock.


Ireland died with their boots on. You saw the reaction from NZ after the whistle. Claiming Ireland choked is disrespectful to NZ and to a great rugby match. It is also indicative of the disrespect shown by NZ and fans to Ireland since 2022. We saw it in some NZ players having a go at Irish players and supporters after the whistle. Is that respect?

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