Whisper it quietly, but Italian rugby genuinely appears to be on the up. Last season the Azzurri had its best Six Nations in terms of results, with two wins and a draw, and although their Under-20s were patchy, they won two Six Nations matches for the third campaign in a row, including a first ever win over their French counterparts.
As usual Benetton were bulk suppliers to both, yet also had their best season since joining the Celtic League in 2010.
Only twice in the ensuing 14 seasons have Benetton won more matches than they’ve lost, firstly in 2017-18 and again in 2018-19 when reaching the playoffs for the first time before losing 15-13 against Munster in Thomond Park.
But by any metric, their achievement in finishing seventh in the URC last season was better, not only because they won a higher percentage of matches, 11 out of 18, with one draw, but because since the expansion to include the four South African Super Rugby powerhouses this is just a more competitive competition than in its previous iterations.
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What’s more, in securing automatic qualification on merit for this season’s Champions Cup, Benetton reached the quarter-finals of the URC and were pushing hard to force their quarter-final against the Bulls into extra-time before going down 30-23.
There were also five more wins in their run to the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup.
“Yeah, for sure, it was a very good season,” agrees Antonio Pavanello, who was a back five forward for a decade with Benetton and has been their general manager since 2015.
“We achieved the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup away to Gloucester, but unfortunately we didn’t play well. We were, perhaps, a little too nervous and that was a shame, but we also finished seventh in the URC and we achieved the quarter-finals, and in a stronger competition than the past.
“So this quarter-final was at another level compared to 2019 and honestly we played a very good match. Everybody said we would be beaten well by the Bulls so we entered onto the field without stress and it was an opportunity to play good rugby.”
Interestingly, while they scored five less tries last season compared to the season before (51 as against 56), Benetton were way more resolute defensively, conceding 18 fewer tries with 56 compared to 74 two seasons ago.
“Calum MacRae, our defence coach, has done a very good job,” says Pavanello of the former Scottish Sevens player and head coach, who joined two seasons ago after five seasons as defence coach at Edinburgh. “So that is the result of the focus on that area.
“He has done a very, very good job and on the other side we really improved in terms of physicality and so the improvement in that area is a result of the defence and winning more collisions. That was the main area we worked on and it was important to achieve those results.”
Benetton also supplied 19 players to the Azzurri in last season’s Six Nations, and even if this obliges them to invest in imported talent to offset this drain Pavanello maintains: “If we help Italy to win matches in the Six Nations we are proud to have done our job well.”
With acquisitions such as Malakai Fekitoa from Munster to further swell their non-Italian contingent, it seems that Benetton now have the financial resources and independence to target a high URC finish like never before, although Pavanello says this is also due to changing perceptions.
“Our (financial) balance is getting better and better, and we can spend a little bit more money, but for me what we have now compared to previous seasons is credibility.
“So, when I try to get new players, it is a little bit easier because in the past they see an Italian club without too many results so even if you offered them good money, they go to other clubs.
“Now, it is a little bit different. We have more credibility and players are attracted to coming here, so if you offer the same money they prefer to come to a good environment, in a good city and a good country, and with a club that is looking to achieve new goals.”
But for Pavanello, the sea change he has witnessed is as much off the pitch as on it.
“When I finished my (playing) career here, there were seven people on the staff, now there are 25, so we can give to the players more and more detail. The facilities are much better than in the past. I can see a club that is on the same level as other clubs around Europe.
So, Benetton aren’t of a mind to leave last season as a one-off, although there are half a dozen teams who missed out on the top eight last season and are genuinely targeting the playoffs this season.
“Our ambition is to repeat the URC playoffs but we know that it will be harder because first of all everybody is waiting for us and we will be back in the Champions Cup and we know that competition is really, really hard,” admits Pavanello ahead of Benetton facing Clermont (away), Bath (home), Bristol (away) and La Rochelle (home).
“In the meantime to have 20 players with Italy and five with Argentina, which is not easy to manage. The Italian players have the November internationals and the Six Nations, and as well as the Rugby Championship the Argentinian players have November internationals, and that is the main issue this season.”
“But I am confident that the staff will find the right turnover in a large squad and we’ll have the opportunity to keep the energy at the right time with individuals players.
“If I watch the model to copy it is the Irish system and especially Leinster. I always watch their model and try to apply the same things to our system in our club and for that reason we improve a lot in the last few seasons.
“I think that Irish rugby is a good environment. The Irish team is very strong and Leinster is one of the best clubs in the world.”
Unlike Leinster, of course, there is no schools rugby in Italy. Benetton do not have conveyor belts like Blackrock and St Michael’s. But Treviso is one of the small hotbeds of rugby in Italy.
“Consider that around Treviso there are 17 clubs. We don’t have schools where you have the chance to play rugby, the private clubs do that, and we have 17 in this area. So, in terms of the identity of rugby (in Italy) this is the most important area.
“We are talking about a province of one million people and in Treviso there are 800,000 so to have 17 rugby clubs around here is very important.”
Benetton have an under-18 academy managed by the FIR which works with the best players in their region, and also an under-22 academy managed by the FIR.
Ultimately though, however huge Gaelic football and hurling are in Ireland, rugby still commands attention and eyes, whereas Italian rugby is dwarfed by calcio and according to the former Zebre coach Michael Bradley, languishes in 16th place in participation numbers.
Pavanello admits football’s dominance commercial “is a big problem for our sport in Italy”.
“We try to work a lot in communication, especially on social media and we continue to work hard because we believe we can improve year by year.”
Still, you can’t help but think that rugby globally could do more, be it have a World Cup in Italy or a Champions Cup final there.
“That would be a good starting point to change the view in Italy but also in other countries. For example, in 2031 the World Cup will be in the USA. That is a good chance to develop rugby there, but I hope also that in the future we will have the chance to host a World Cup.
“We have more than 60 million population here and if rugby can improve in one country that is Italy and you don’t do that only with the Six Nations. As you say, you have the chance to do this with events like the Champions Cup final or a URC final, as well as a Rugby World Cup final. That is the direction rugby should take.”
Ultimately though, Pavanello remains optimistic about the future of rugby in Benetton and in Italy generally.
“We know that we will have one season that you can have three steps forward and maybe one season that you can do only one step forward because of the opportunities we have financially. Inside the URC and the Six Nations we are not the most important club or union but I am optimistic because I see that the pathway is right.”
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