Competitions

Competitions

Domestic

The Super 10 is the main competition for rugby union clubs in Italy. The competition was first contested in 1929, with six clubs. It was altered in 2002 to include just the top 10 sides of Italy. The competition runs from September to May. After a home-and-away season, the top four teams play a knock-out competition to decide the championship. The winners are awarded the Albo d'Oro trophy.

The current teams are:

• AlmavivA Capitolina
• Futura Park Roma
• Femi-CZ Rovigo
• MPS Viadana
• Benetton Treviso
• Casino' di Venezia
• Cammi Calvisano
• Cariparma Rugby Parma
• Carrera Petrarca Padova
• Plusvalore Gran Parma

Below the Super 10, domestic Italian rugby is played in the Campionati Nazionali which consists of:

Serie A: divided into 2 leagues of 12 teams who play each other home and away.
Serie B: divided into 4 leagues of 12 teams who play each other home and away.

An Under 19 Championship and a female competition also exist.

The Coppa Italia is a knock-out competition for domestic clubs. The competition has been contested annually since 1967, though it was not held from 1974 to 1980, and 1983 to 1994, and again in 1996, 1999 and 2002.

European tournaments

Magners League

Two Italian sides, Treviso and Aironi (A new franchise made up of Viadana and surround clubs) were admitted to the Magners League on the 8th of March 2009. The two clubs will start playing in the league from the 2010/11 season onwards.

The unanimous announcement by Celtic rugby followed a long period of negotiations and planning, starting with a tentative agreement in 2008 to admit two Italian sides. During 2009 the FIR organised a competition to choose which two sides would win the two places up for grabs. This resulted in a team based in Rome winning on of the two places, despite Italians rugby heartland being based in the north. This decision was overturned after questions about the viability of the new franchise, with Treviso taking their place. Only after repeated assurances by the FIR of the ability of the two new sides to contribute financially to the league did Celtic rugby finally admit the two teams.

Heineken Cup

Italy field teams in the European knock-out competition, the Heineken Cup, which is an annual rugby union competition involving leading clubs, regional and provincial teams from the rest of the Six Nations: England, France, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Through the 2009–10 season, Italy usually had two to three clubs in the Heineken Cup. Starting in 2010–11, Italy's two Magners League sides will automatically enter the Heineken Cup.

European Challenge Cup

The European Challenge Cup in rugby union, known as the Parker Pen Shield from 2001 to 2003, Parker Pen Challenge Cup from 2003 to 2005, and the Amlin Challenge Cup since 2009, is the sister competition to the Heineken Cup. It is competed for by teams from England, France, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Romania on a knock-out basis.

Italy enters 4 clubs: those finishing 3rd and 4th in the Super 10, and the winners of playoffs between 5th and 8th, and 6th and 7th. Clubs had previously competed in the European Shield, though that particular competition was restructured in 2005.

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