The Italian Rugby Pyramid explained
In the Energy Travel offices, we love travel and we love sport. One of our favourite combinations of these two passions is supporting rugby in Italy.
We all know a little about the Italian game and the progress of the Azzurri in the six nations and at the World Cup. Below this, what does Italian rugby look like? Recent success of Italian youth teams shows promise for the future, but a strong league structure will also help promote competitive rugby and a dynamic future. With the Italian pyramid restarting last weekend, we took a deeper dive to find out more about:
Italy was first introduced to modern rugby in the early 1900s, supposedly thanks to a combination of Italian workers bringing it back from France as well as French students bringing it with them whilst studying in Turin and Milan. The first demonstration game took place in 1910 and rugby has remained a dominant force especially in the areas around the Po Valley in Northern Italy.
There are now over 1000 clubs and over 80,000 registered players.
Domestic rugby in Italy has a tiered system similar to most European sports competitions. However, right at the top of the structure are two teams called Treviso and Zebre, which compete in the United Rugby Championship (URC) alongside teams from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and South Africa. This is a closed competition without relegation and provides the two clubs with the stability to invest, grow and develop.
Click the link to visit the Google Maps overview of Italian Rugby from Pro-10 to Serie C
The Italian rugby pyramid starts with a league called the Pro-10, currently comprised of eight teams from the north and two from Rome. This top division has had many guises over the years and has previously been known as the Top-12, Eccelenza and Super 10.
