Zebre are one of Italy’s finest rugby sides. They’re based in Parma and compete in the PRO14, the Heineken Champions Cup and the European Rugby Challenge Cup. Often referred to as ‘the XV of the North-West’, they represent the four committees of Emilia-Romagna, Liguria, Lombardy and Piedmont, and clubs from other committees in the surrounding area.
Gavin Coombes scored four tries at Zebre as Munster secured second place in the northern section of the Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup.
Benetton enhanced their status as the Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup’s unlikely pace-setters with a 34-27 victory over Zebre.
Zebre are one of Italy’s finest rugby sides. They’re based in Parma and compete in the PRO14, the Heineken Champions Cup and the European Rugby Challenge Cup. Often referred to as ‘the XV of the North-West’, they represent the four committees of Emilia-Romagna, Liguria, Lombardy and Piedmont, and clubs from other committees in the surrounding area.
PRO 14 
Challenge Cup 
Heineken Cup 
Pro14 Rainbow Cup PRO 14 
PRO 14 Challenge Cup Heineken Cup Pro14 Rainbow Cup | Round 16 | P | W | L | D | PF | PA | PD | BP T | BP -7 | BP | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
-  Leinster | 16 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 576 | 285 | 291 | 14 | 1 | 15 | 71 |
-  Munster | 16 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 413 | 250 | 163 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 64 |
-  Ulster | 16 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 469 | 263 | 206 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 64 |
-  Connacht | 16 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 396 | 353 | 43 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 45 |
-  Scarlets | 16 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 319 | 333 | -14 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 39 |
-  Ospreys | 16 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 326 | 348 | -22 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 36 |
-  Cardiff Blues | 16 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 265 | 284 | -19 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 36 |
-  Glasgow Warriors | 16 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 335 | 377 | -42 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 30 |
-  Gwent Dragons | 16 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 308 | 398 | -90 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 25 |
-  Edinburgh | 14 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 232 | 330 | -98 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 21 |
-  Zebre | 16 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 237 | 491 | -254 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 21 |
-  Benetton Treviso | 14 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 237 | 386 | -149 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Round 16 |
|---|
| - Leinster |
| - Munster |
| - Ulster |
| - Connacht |
| - Scarlets |
| - Ospreys |
| - Cardiff Blues |
| - Glasgow Warriors |
| - Gwent Dragons |
| - Edinburgh |
| - Zebre |
| - Benetton Treviso |
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.
Daniele Rimpelli Prop 
Andrea Lovotti Prop 
Danilo Fischetti Prop 
Massimo Ceciliani Hooker 
Marco Manfredi Hooker 
Luca Bigi Hooker 
Oliviero Fabiani Hooker 
Alexandru Tarus Prop 
Eduardo Bello Prop 
Matteo Nocera Prop 
Giosue Zilocchi Prop 
Samuele Ortis Lock 
Ian Nagle Lock 
Mick Kearney Lock 
Leonard Krumov Lock 
Alessandro Mordacci Lock 
Maxime Mbanda Flanker 6 
NardoCasolari Blindside flanker 
David Sisi Flanker 6 
Jacopo Bianchi Flanker 6 
Renato Giammarioli Flanker 7 
Jimmy Tuivaiti Number 8 
Matt Williams Number 8 
Giovanni Licata Number 8 
Antoine Kouassi Koffi Number 8 
Johan Meyer Number 8 
Nicolo D'Amico Fullback 
Potu Leavasa 
Pierre Bruno Wing 
Federico Mori 
Nicolò Casilio 
Paolo Buonfiglio 
RiccardoBrugnara 
MatteoLuccardi 
PaoloPescetto 
Alessandro Fusco 
Cristian Stoian 
JacopoTrulla Pierre Bruno Wing 
GabrieleVenditti Fullback 
Andrea Chianucci Fullback 
Simone Marinaro Fullback 
Alessandro Forcucci Fullback 
Jamie Elliott Fullback 
Niccolò Taddia Fullback 
Giampietro Ribaldi Fullback 
Nicolae Cristian Stoian Fullback 
Jacopo Trulla Fullback 
Filippo Di Marco Fullback 
Marcello Violi Scrum half 
Josh Renton Scrum half 
Guglielmo Palazzani Scrum half 
Antonio Rizzi Fly half 
Carlo Canna Fly half 
Laloifi Junior Laloifi Wing 
Enrico Lucchin Centre 
Tommaso Castello Centre 
Tommaso Boni Centre 
Giulio Bisegni Centre 
Giulio Bisegni Centre 
Jamie Elliott Wing 
Gabriele Di Giulio Wing 
Mattia Bellini Wing 
Giovanni D'Onofrio Fullback 
Michelangelo Biondelli Fullback Due to the fact that Zebre Rugby feature in elite competitions, they do attract top talent and a number of internationals play for the Zebre Rugby team. They include prop Andrea Lovotti, scrum-half Guglielmo Palazzani and fly-half Carlo Canna. In the history of Zebre Rugby, more than 40 players have been capped for Italy after featuring for Zebre Rugby.
Read on to learn even more about Zebre Rugby. On this page you can see the latest news about the team and take a look at their upcoming fixtures and recent results.
