Benetton Rugby, also known as Benetton Treviso,( or ) is an Italian professional rugby union team based in Treviso, Veneto which competes in the United Rugby Championship, the European Rugby Challenge Cup and European Champions Cup. Treviso rugby team was founded in 1932 and has won 15 Italian national championships. The team has been owned by the Benetton clothing company since 1979. Treviso have competed in the United Rugby Championship (formerly the Pro14 and Pro12) since 2010, and have previously competed in the Italian domestic championship.
Treviso have supplied many players to the Italian national team, such as Alessandro Zanni and Leonardo Ghiraldini. Conversely, several notable foreign internationals have played for Treviso, including Rugby World Cup winners Craig Green, John Kirwan and Michael Lynagh.
The club's president is Antonio Pavanello, elected in December 2025.
The club has also a women's section established in 1982, known as Red Panthers, which has won 16 national championships.
History
Amateur era: 1932–1995 Treviso rugby team was founded in 1932. The club won its first honour when it took the 1956 Italian premiership. Benetton Treviso won its first Italian Cup in 1970 and in 1978 won the Italian premiership again. The year after Benetton became the main sponsor, the team's name became "Benetton Rugby Treviso". Treviso won the domestic premiership in 1983, then again in 1989 and in the 1992 season.
Professional era: 1995–present Benetton Treviso Rugby turned professional after 1995. They dominated the Italian league from 1997 until 2010, winning the championship 10 times (1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010) during those 14 seasons and twice finishing second.National Championship of Excellence They also won the Italian Cup in 1998.
Benetton Treviso has competed in the Heineken Cup competition almost every year since the competition began in 1995 along with the professional era. Benetton Treviso competed in the inaugural 1995–96 Heineken Cup, winning one game and losing one. The following season they played four matches, winning one game. In the 1998–99 Heineken Cup, they won three games. Benetton Treviso spent the 2000–01 and 2002–03 seasons in the European Challenge Cup, but have appeared in the Heineken Cup in each season since then. They won half of their games during the 2004–05 Heineken Cup, but won only one match in the following four seasons (at Newport Gwent Dragons in 2007). In the 2009–10 Heineken Cup opener, they defeated reigning French Top 14 champions Perpignan 9–8 in Treviso.
Following the 2009–10 season, Treviso left the Italian domestic competition and in 2010–11 was one of two Italian teams to join the Celtic League to play against clubs from Ireland, Wales and Scotland. The new league was to be known as the Pro12. Both Italian teams were guaranteed places annually into the Heineken Cup, which had previously been awarded to the two top teams in the domestic Italian National Championship of Excellence. An agreement had been reached in early March 2010 to allow two Italian teams a place in the Celtic League. In 2010, it was proposed that Aironi and a new team, Praetorians Roma, would join, but Treviso were nominated instead. Treviso and a combination of Duchi Nord-Ovest rugby clubs could not agree to form one regional representative club and lost out in the first round of bidding. However, Pretorians Roma failed to satisfy financial criteria, and Treviso instead joined the Pro12.
Treviso finished their first two season in the Pro12 (2010–11 and 2011–12) in 10th place, while in the 2012–13 season they finished 7th with 50 points. In the next three seasons, Treviso performed poorly, ending 11th, 11th and 12th out of twelve teams. After that, a new head coach was engaged for the 2016/2017 season, the New Zealander Kieran Crowley. The former All Black formed a new coaching team with two ex-Italian internationals, Marco Bortolami and Fabio Ongaro. Treviso finished the season in 10th place.
In 2017/2018, the championship was joined by two South Africans teams, becoming the Pro14, and was divided into two conferences. This season Treviso nearly reached the European Rugby Champions Cup play-offs, ending 5th in the conference with 55 points. For first time since Treviso joined this league the club has been able to record more wins than losses (11 against 10).
Ahead of the 2017/18 season, Benetton Rugby Treviso was renamed Benetton Rugby. In the 2022/23 season it founded a U23 academy and a regional U19 academy.
Honours Italian Championship: Champions: 15 (1956, 1978, 1983, 1989, 1992, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010) Coppa Italia: Champions: 4 (1970, 1998, 2005, 2010) Italian Super Cup: Champions: 2 (2006, 2009) Pro14 Rainbow Cup Champions: (2021) United Rugby Championship Scottish/Italian Shield Runner Up: (2022-23), (2023-24)
Current standings
Season records
Celtic League / Pro12 Benetton Treviso joined the Celtic League for the 2010–11 season. Season Played Won Drawn Lost Bonus Points Pos 2010–11 22 9 0 13 2 38 10th 2011–12 22 7 0 15 8 36 10th 2012–13 22 10 2 10 6 50 7th 2013–14 22 5 1 16 8 30 11th 2014–15 22 3 1 18 5 19 11th 2015–16 22 3 0 19 8 20 12th 2016–17 22 5 0 17 3 23 10th
Pro14 Season Conference Played Won Drawn Lost Bonus Points Pos 2017–18 Conference B 21 11 0 10 11 55 5th 2018–19 Conference B 21 11 2 8 9 57 3rd Quarter-finals Munster 15 – 13 Benetton Rugby 2019–20 Conference B 15 6 1 8 10 36 5th 2020–21 Conference B 16 0 1 15 7 7 6th
Pro14 Rainbow Cup Season Played Won Drawn Lost Bonus Points Pos 2021 5 4 1 0 2 22 1st FinalBenetton Rugby 35 – 8 Bulls
United Rugby Championship Season Played Won Drawn Lost Bonus Points Pos 2021-22 18 6 1 11 9 35 13th 2022-23 18 8 0 10 9 41 11th 2023-24 18 11 1 6 8 50 7th Quarter-finalsBulls 30 – 23 Benetton Rugby 2024-25 18 9 1 8 8 46 10th
Heineken Cup / European Rugby Champions Cup Season Pool/Round Played Won Drawn Lost Bonus Points Pos1995–96 Pool 1 2 1 0 1 0 2 2nd 1996–97 Pool 1 4 1 0 3 0 2 4th 1997–98 Pool 5 6 2 0 4 0 4 3rd 1998–99 Pool 4 6 3 0 3 0 6 3rd 1999–00 Pool 5 6 2 0 4 0 4 3rd 2001–02 Pool 2 6 1 0 5 0 2 4th 2003–04 Pool 5 6 1 0 5 1 5 3rd 2004–05 Pool 2 6 3 0 3 2 14 3rd 2005–06 Pool 4 6 0 0 6 3 3 4th 2006–07 Pool 1 6 0 0 6 0 0 4th 2007–08 Pool 1 6 1 0 5 1 5 4th 2008–09 Pool 3 6 0 0 6 0 0 4th 2009–10 Pool 1 6 1 0 5 1 5 4th 2010–11 Pool 5 6 0 0 6 1 1 4th 2011–12 Pool 5 6 1 1 4 1 7 4th 2012–13 Pool 2 6 1 0 5 1 5 4th 2013–14 Pool 5 6 0 0 6 0 0 4th 2014–15 Pool 5 6 1 0 5 0 4 4th 2015–16 Pool 4 6 0 0 6 0 0 4th 2017–18 Pool 5 6 0 0 6 4 4 4th 2019–20 Pool 1 6 1 0 5 2 6 4th 2024–25 Pool 2 4 2 0 2 3 11 3rd Round of 16Castres Olympique 39 – 37 Benetton Rugby
European Rugby Challenge Cup Season Pool/Round Played Won Drawn Lost Bonus Points Pos2000–01Pool 1 6 5 0 1 0 10 2nd 2002–032nd roundNewcastle Falcons 43 – 32 Benetton Rugby (aggregate score)2016–17Pool 1 6 2 0 4 0 8 3rd 2018–19Pool 5 6 4 0 2 4 20 2nd 2020-21 Preliminary stage 2 1 0 1 1 5 7th Round of 16Benetton Rugby 29 – 16 AgenQuarter-finalsMontpellier Hérault Rugby 31 – 25 Benetton Rugby2021–22Pool B 4 2 0 2 0 8 3rd Round of 16Toulon Rugby 36 – 17 Benetton Rugby2022–23Pool B 4 3 0 1 3 15 2nd Round of 16 Benetton Rugby 41 - 19 ConnachtQuarter-finals Benetton Rugby 27 - 23 Cardiff RugbySemi-finalsToulon Rugby 23 – 0 Benetton Rugby2023–24Pool 2 4 3 0 0 3 15 1st Round of 16 Benetton Rugby 27 - 17 LionsQuarter-finals Benetton Rugby 39 - 24 ConnachtSemi-finalsGloucester Rugby 40 – 23 Benetton Rugby2025–26Pool 2 4 4 0 0 3 19 1st Round of 16 Benetton Rugby 38 - 35 Cardiff RugbyQuarter-finals Benetton Rugby 41 - 44 Exeter Chiefs
Stadium
The team play at the Stadio Comunale di Monigo in Treviso, 4 km northwest of the city centre. The stadium has two covered stands and a capacity of 5,000.
Staff and coaching team The staff for the 2026–27 season is:
Sports director – Antonio Pavanello Head coach – Wayne Pivac Assistant coach – Salvatore Costanzo Assistant coach – Pete Wilkins Assistant coach – Dewald Senekal Assistant coach - Rhys Patchell Team Manager – Enrico Ceccato Head of Recruitment – Andrea Marcato Kit Man – Federico Zani Head of Strength & Conditioning – Tommaso Boldrini Trainer – Alessandro Zanni − Riccardo Ton – Luca Morisi – William Lavis Fitness Data Analyst – Alberto Botter − Marco Maniera
Current squad
Props
Hookers
Locks
Back row
Scrum-halves
Fly-halves
Centres
Wings
Fullbacks
Additional players
Props
Hookers
Locks
Back row
Scrum-halves
Fly-halves
Centres
Wings
Fullbacks
Selected former players
Italian players Former players who have played for Benetton and have caps for Italy
Manfredi Albanese Tommaso Allan Filippo Alongi Orazio Arancio Enrico Bacchin Robert Barbieri Marco Barbini Mattia Bellini Alberto Benettin Tommaso Benvenuti Mauro Bergamasco Valerio Bernabò Stefano Bettarello Callum Braley Luca Bigi Lucio Boccaletto Tobias Botes Ignacio Brex Giorgio Bronzini Dean Budd Kris Burton Michele Campagnaro Gonzalo Canale Carlo Checchinato Lorenzo Cittadini Oscar Collodo Walter Cristofoletto Mauro Dal Sie Denis Dallan Manuel Dallan Giacomo Da Re Santiago Dellapè Benjamin de Jager Andrea De Marchi Paul Derbyshire Alberto Di Bernardo Raffaele Dolfato Piermassimiliano Dotto Angelo Esposito Hame Faiva Gianluca Faliva Simone Favaro Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet Ivan Francescato Marco Fuser Ezio Galon Paolo Garbisi Gonzalo García Julian Gardner Ornel Gega Leonardo Ghiraldini Mark Giacheri Edoardo Gori Giovanni Grespan Andrea Gritti Toa Halafihi Jayden Hayward Tommaso Iannone Edoardo Iachizzi Monty Ioane Marco Lazzaroni Alberto Lucchese Gianmarco Lucchesi Andrea Marcato Ramiro Martínez Francesco Mazzariol Nicola Mazzucato Tommaso Menoncello Luke McLean Ian McKinley Matteo Minozzi Francesco Minto Jean-François Montauriol Luca Morisi Alessandro Moscardi Giacomo Nicotera Ludovico Nitoglia David Odiete Fabio Ongaro Edoardo Padovani Scott Palmer Sergio Parisse Antonio Pavanello Enrico Pavanello Mario Pavin Massimiliano Perziano Giovanni Pettinelli Simon Picone Giancarlo Pivetta Walter Pozzebon Andrea Pratichetti Franco Properzi Nicola Quaglio Iliesa Ratuva Tavuyara Marco Riccioni Michele Rizzo Guido Rossi Leonardo Sarto Stefano Saviozzi Franco Sbaraglini Diego Scaglia Fabio Semenzato Michele Sepe Alberto Sgarbi Andrea Sgorlon Luca Sperandio Braam Steyn Tito Tebaldi Giulio Toniolatti Cherif Traorè Moreno Trevisiol Alessandro Troncon Giorgio Troncon Corniel van Zyl Tommaso Visentin Manoa Vosawai Federico Zani Alessandro Zanni Gianni Zanon Marco Zanon Matteo Zanusso Sergio Zorzi
Overseas players Former players who have played for Benetton and have caps for their Representative Team Tomás Albornoz Lautaro Bazán Lucas Borges Agustín Creevy Thomas Gallo Nicolás Roger Tomás Vallejos Michael Lynagh Brendan Williams Michael Horak Tom Palmer Marcus Watson Henry Seniloli Michael Tagicakibau Ian Keatley Christian Loamanu Craig Green John Kirwan Malakai Fekitoa Andries Coetzee Dewaldt Duvenage Franco Smith Bian Vermaak Marco Wentzel Filo Paulo Henry Stowers Stewart Campbell Sam Hidalgo-Clyne Nasi Manu Andy Moore
I Dogi
Treviso is an executive member of the historical territorial representative of I Dogi (the Doges) that have recovered in 2015 and represents several clubs in Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Currently no provision is made for a selection Seniors who take the field with the shirt of The Doges: to represent its brand and colors are at this stage the representative under-14, under-16 male and female under-18 male and female managed by Veneto Regional Committee. May occur during the right conditions, there is still the desire to be able to field, even if it is currently not a priority.