Zebre Rugby

The Zebre Rugby team was initially founded as an invitational team back in 1973. However, they only formed fully as a professional team in 2012 when they were invited to join the PRO12 (now the PRO14). It was hoped that adding Italian teams to the competition would help improve the Italian national team, who had struggled in the Six Nations Championship.

However, ever since Zebre Rugby formed, they’ve struggled to establish themselves in the tournament. In their first three years of participation in the PRO12, they finished bottom of the league. In fact, in the five years they played in the competition, they only avoided finishing bottom of the league once. Even then, they finished 11th.

A similar fate followed Zebre Rugby when the competition rebranded to the PRO14. Between 2018 and 2020, the side finished bottom of their conference on each occasion.

In the club’s history, they’ve featured in the Heineken Champions Cup three times. However, they’re yet to qualify for the knockout rounds. They’ve also played in the European Rugby Challenge Cup five times without advancing past the pools stage. They did finish 2nd in their pool in 2015-16, but failed to qualify as a best runner-up.