Product Code Database
Zebre Parma (, meaning "") are an Italy professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by the Italian Rugby Federation (FIR) and replaced Aironi in the Pro12.
Zebre Parma, often referred to as "the XV of the North-West" (), represents the four committees of Emilia-Romagna, Liguria, Lombardy and Piedmont, which includes tens of thousands of members and several clubs. Since 2018, it represents also teams from others committees like Abruzzo, Lazio, Marche, Tuscany and Sicily. The team was officially named Zebre Parma at the start of the 2021–22 United Rugby Championship season.
Italy have failed to make an impact in the Six Nations Championship since joining in 2000. This has largely been blamed on the fact their best players do not have a competitive enough domestic tournament or are forced to play abroad. The fact that the Six Nations decider in 2009 between Wales and Ireland featured 42 Celtic League players out of 44 in their squads supported this notion.
After initial applications in 2010, it was proposed that Aironi would join along with a new team, Praetorians Roma, but Benetton Rugby were nominated instead. Benetton Treviso and Rugby Calvisano could not agree to form one club to represent the Veneto region and lost out in the first round of bidding despite the region being the traditional home of Italian rugby. However, Pretorians Roma failed to satisfy the evaluators of their financial muscle and Benetton Treviso were nominated in their place.
Aironi struggled in their first season; a surprise European Cup win over Biarritz was the only highlight of a campaign in which they managed only one Pro12 victory. At the end of a second season of struggle on the pitch, Aironi succumbed to financial difficulties off it. Their licence to play both in the European Cup and Pro12 was revoked by the Italian Rugby Federation. The Federation decided against another domestic Italian club taking over the running of the licence, instead opting to maintain complete control of a planned new franchise. In June 2012, it was announced that the new franchise would be known as Zebre and based in Parma.
Zebre did not enjoy much success in their first season, 2012–13, finishing bottom after winless campaigns in both the Pro12 and the Heineken Cup. Although they finished the subsequent 2013–14 season bottom once again, their performance was much improved, seeing their first victory against Cardiff Blues at the Arms Park into Round 3 of Pro12, in a season in which they had five league victories, with their away win in Cardiff followed by home victories against the Ospreys, Edinburgh Rugby, Cardiff Blues and Italian Rivals Benetton Rugby, who finished the season a single point ahead of Zebre. They fared somewhat worse in 2014–15, managing only 3 victories and finishing bottom of the table for the third season running. In the 2015–16 seasons they again earned five victories including back to back victories against Treviso and a bonus-point victory against the Newport Gwent Dragons. Zebre avoided finishing in last place for the first time.
Two other former select teams are Dogi (The Doges) based in Triveneto and I Lupi (The Wolves) based in Central Italy and Southern Italy.
Props
Hookers
Locks
| Back row
Scrum-halves
Fly-halves
| Centres
Wings
Fullbacks |
| (c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players. * denotes players qualified to play for Italy on residency or dual nationality. Players and their allocated positions from the Zebre Parma website. |
Props
Hookers
Locks
| Back row
Scrum-halves
Fly-halves
| Centres
Wings
Fullbacks
|
| (c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players. * denotes players qualified to play for Italy on residency or dual nationality. Players and their allocated positions from the Zebre Rugby and F.I.R. website. |
| 10 |
| 29 |
| 15 |
| 24 |
| 19 |
| 36 |
| 19 |
| 21 |
| 17 |
| 3 |
| 9 |
| 11 |
| 15 |
| 29 |
| 8 | ||||||
| 13 | ||||||
| 8 | ||||||
| 14 | ||||||
| 13 | ||||||
| 2020-21 | 6 | |||||
| Zebre Rugby 27-35 Bath Rugby | ||||||
| 2 | ||||||
| 1 | ||||||
| 10 | ||||||
| Sharks 47-3 Zebre Rugby | ||||||
| 2 | ||||||
| 1 |
| 0 |
| 0 |
Bold indicates active player
| Tries | Simone Gesi | 29 |
| Appearances | Guglielmo Palazzani | 161 |
| Points | Carlo Canna | 717 |
| 1 | Simone Gesi | 29 |
| 2 | Dries Van Schalkwyk | 24 |
| 3 | Mattia Bellini | 21 |
| 4 | Jacopo Trulla | 20 |
| 5 | Johan Meyer | 19 |
| 6 | Carlo Canna | 17 |
| 7 | Giovanbattista Venditti | 15 |
| Giulio Bisegni | 15 | |
| Tommaso Boni | 15 | |
| 10 | Pierre Bruno | 14 |
| 1 | Guglielmo Palazzani | 161 |
| 2 | Oliviero Fabiani | 140 |
| 3 | Leonard Krumov | 129 |
| 4 | George Biagi | 119 |
| 5 | Giulio Bisegni | 118 |
| Carlo Canna | 118 | |
| 7 | Dario Chistolini | 116 |
| Andrea Lovotti | 116 | |
| 9 | Tommaso Boni | 113 |
| 10 | Andrea De Marchi | 109 |
| 1 | Carlo Canna | 717 |
| 2 | Luciano Orquera | 242 |
| 3 | Gerónimo Prisciantelli | 158 |
| 4 | Antonio Rizzi | 153 |
| 5 | Simone Gesi | 148 |
| 6 | Edoardo Padovani | 123 |
| 7 | Dries Van Schalkwyk | 120 |
| 8 | Giovanni Montemauri | 118 |
| 9 | Daniel Halangahu | 109 |
| Jacopo Trulla | 109 | |
|
|
