Rugby Rovigo Delta, formerly known until 2010 as Rugby Rovigo, is an Italian rugby union club currently competing in the Serie A Élite. They are based in Rovigo, in Veneto.
Overview The club was founded in 1935 by medical student Dino Lanzoni, who discovered rugby at university in Padua.
They quickly became one of the strongest Italian sides and won 15 titles between 1951 and 2025. They have never been relegated from the top flight of Italian rugby union. They are the current Italian champion.
Former Rovigo players include Elio De Anna, Stefano Bettarello, Stefano Bordon, Alessandro Moscardi, Carlo Orlandi, Carlo Checchinato, Mirco Bergamasco, Manuel Contepomi, AJ Venter, Gert Smal, Viliami Ofahengaue and Naas Botha.
Honours Italian championship Champions (15): 1950–51, 1951–52, 1952–53, 1953–54, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1975–76, 1978–79, 1987–88, 1989–90, 2015–16, 2020–21, 2022–23, 2024–25 Runners-up (7): 1988–89, 1991–92, 2010–11, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2016–17, 2018–19, 2021−22 Coppa Italia/Excellence Trophy Champions (2): 2019–20, 2024–25 Runners-up (3): 1997–98, 2005–06, 2013−14 Italian Super Cup: Champions (1):2025
Current squad The Rovigo Delta senior squad for 2026–27 is:
Rovigo Delta squad Props Nicola Bolognini Javier Alejandro Corvalan Andrea Della Sala Emanuele Leccioli Nicola Pomaro Alessio Sanavia Entienne Swanepoel
Hookers Filippo Cadorini Lapo Frangini Enrico Giulian
Locks
Ethan Cutler Eliseo Fourcade Luigi Nalin Paolo SteoloBack row Iacopo Bianchi Lautaro Casado Sandri* Lorenzo Ciampolini Duccio Cosi Matteo Meggiato Riccardo Paganin Stefano Sironi Cesare Zucconi
Scrum-halves Francesco Krsul Juan Dee Oliver Andrea Visentin
Fly-halves Federico Cantini Brandon ThomsonCentres Luca Belloni Lorenzo Elettri Facundo Diederich Ferrario*(c) Matteo Moscardi Franco Smith jr
Wings Lorenzo Maria Bruno Rafael Andrès Lertora Castro* Paolo Uncini
Fullbacks Alessandro Gesi Giovanni Sante (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 Rovigo Delta website.
Selected former players Italian players Former players who have played for Rovigo and have caps for Italy:
Matías Agüero Andrea Bacchetti Mario Battaglini Enzo Bellinazzo Mirko Belloni Arturo Bergamasco Mirco Bergamasco Ottorino Bettarello Romano Bettarello Stefano Bettarello Flaviano Brizzante Massimo Brunello Stefano Bordon Giancarlo Busson Pablo Canavosio Carlo Checchinato David Dal Maso Elio De Anna Gianluca Faliva Simone Favaro Matteo Ferro – Julian Gardner Massimo Giovanelli Andrea Lo Cicero Tito Lupini Giancarlo Malosti Matteo Mazzantini Alessandro Moscardi Giancarlo Navarrini Giacomo Nicotera Carlo Orlandi Alberto Osti Antonio Pavanello Gert Peens Isidoro Quaglio Nicola Quaglio Graziano Ravanelli Pietro Reale Leonardo Sarto Andrea Scanavacca Fabrizio Sintich Pietro Stievano Iliesa Ratuva Tavuyara Edgardo Venturi Angelo Visentin Narciso Zanella
Overseas players Former players who have played for Rovigo and have caps for their respective country:
Peter FitzSimons Viliami Ofahengaue Alejandro Abadie Lautaro Bazan Velez Manuel Contepomi Juan Cruz Legora Leandro Lobrauco Serafín Dengra Juan Pablo Orlandi – Christian Stewart Akvsenti Giorgadze Ilia Zedginidze Gheorghe Gajion Ron Cribb Alexandru Penciu Cristian Săuan Nick Mallett Stefan Basson Schalk van der Merwe Schalk Burger Sr. Hendro Scholtz Naas Botha Gert Smal AJ Venter Silao Leaega Elvis Seveali'i Luke Gross Bernard Thomas
Presidents Sources:Rugby Rovigo Delta archives Guerrini, 2022 Zanirato, 2016 Ravagnani-Colosetti, 1987 Nicola Azzi Stefano Badocchi Carlo Bego Lorenzo (Renzo) Bullo Giancarlo Checchinato Lamberto Coltro Mosè De Stefani Bruno Granata Davide (Dino) Lanzoni Ernesto Marsullo Ottorino Marzolla Giuseppe Merlin Adriano Pavan Lauro Pavanello Ercole Ponzetti Lino Rizzieri Alessandro Sigolo Enrico Suriani Nino Suriani Ugo Taddeo Giuseppe Toffoli Susanna Vecchi Sergio Viscardini Francesco Zambelli (in office)
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References
External links