Rugby Scudetti, Veneto still dominates
It's beautiful (also) because it's strange, sport. Disrespectful of values and predictions, when it happens. And sometimes, even if to a lesser extent than in other disciplines, it happens in rugby too.
Viadana had conducted the regular season of the Serie A Élite , yet another name for the top oval championship, with a certain ease, closing it as the top of the table. In the final they found one of the most famous teams, Rovigo. That same Rovigo that however - less than two months earlier - the team from the province of Mantua had beaten with an "embarrassing" score: 62-34.
Final act of the tournament in Parma, on neutral ground, in front of a sold-out crowd of 5,000 spectators. In the first half, Viadana dominated, with the opposing team almost always under pressure, suffering beyond measure in the lateral throw-in, suffering a couple of temporary expulsions and seeming to go close to a technical knockout, conceding three converted goals in the space of seven minutes, close to the half-hour mark.
Everything is easy for the Lombards, the third row Locatelli is a wrath of God, the fly-half Roger Farias builds, converts the tries and even scores one himself. And never mind, think the yellow-black supporters, for the first goal of the match, essentially gifted to Rovigo: the Venetian team, under pressure, had found an interception with the excellent captain Diederich Ferrario and set up a counterattack that, also with a bit of good luck, had brought Matteo Moscardi over the try line. At 7-21, in the last minute of the first half, the red and blue Polesani obtain a free kick from a rare attacking sortie and are careful not to look for the big target: the three points scored by the footballer Thomson are enough to lift their spirits a bit.
Then the second half begins, and the game changes completely. Davide Giazzon, coach of the Venetians, gradually injects experience into the fray from the bench, with the various Swanepoel, Ferro, Casado Sandri, Sironi. Viadana lacks clarity and brilliance: also due to some forced substitutions, the boys coached by Gilberto Pavan lose control of the match and end up not scoring a single point.
It's clear right away that the wind has changed. From 21-10 to 21-17. Lertora hits the posts halfway through the second half: 21-20, more pressure than that... On the field, in fact, you see only one team, the other is empty and disoriented, stuck on the last points scored in the 31st minute of the first half. The script is written and eight minutes from the end it's Moscardi - later voted man of the match - who puts his signature on it, finding the gap for the goal after a long offensive.
Since 2021, the first post-Covid championship, the championship has not gone beyond a 45-kilometer long axis. The alternation is all here: Rovigo at the beginning of the decade, Petrarca Padova in 2022, Rovigo in 2023, Petrarca in 2024 (in the final against Viadana...) and now Rovigo again.
The top women's championship is instead characterized by another dualism, between the Paduans of Valsugana and the Treviso team of Villorba. For the second consecutive year, it was the latter who subdued their rivals, beating them in the final 15-5: a score that matured entirely in the first half, followed by a very frustrating second half for those who had to chase and tried to do so with a possession as clear as it was sterile.
The fact remains that Veneto continues to assert itself as a leading region among both men and women. Let's also take into account the contribution given to the various Italian national teams and the role of national leader played by Benetton, which plays together with Zebre Parma in the supranational tournament called Urc (United rugby championship).
And then we return to the “Élite” championships , to take stock after the promotion finals. Two games and two narrow defeats for Parabiago, beaten 19-17 by Biella among the men and 13-10 by Neapolis Campania Felix among the women. Two absolute rookies complete the picture for next season. In the men’s field, out of 10 teams there will be four from Veneto (Rovigo, Petrarca, Mogliano and Vicenza), three from Emilia (Reggio, Colorno and Lyons Piacenza), one from Lombardy (Viadana), one from “Lazio” (the Fiamme Oro) and one from Piedmont (Biella). While for women, the top division, which has eight teams, will see three teams from Veneto (Villorba, Valsugana, Benetton Treviso), one from Emilia (Furie Rosse Colorno), one from Piedmont (Cus Torino), one from Lombardy (Cus Milano), the Roman Unione Capitolina and the Neapolitan Neapolis, the only representative from the South in the two top competitions.
The “club” season ends like this but now there is a long summer for the national teams. Gonzalo Quesada ’s senior men’s team, with some of their most experienced players resting, will face a tour that will see them face Namibia once (June 27) and South Africa twice (July 5 and 12). The Azzurrini will play the Under 20 World Cup at home, which will take place starting June 29 in four locations: Calvisano, Viadana, Verona and Rovigo, which will host the final on July 19. And finally, but only in chronological order, the Women’s World Cup, in England from August 22 to September 27. The Azzurre will take to the field against France, South Africa and Brazil with the aim of repeating the feat of reaching the quarter-finals.
Rovigo-Viadana 27-21 (first half 10-21). For Rovigo: 3 tries (Moscardi at 16' and 72', Della Sala at 51'), 3 conversions (Thomson), 2 set pieces (Thomson at 40', Lertora at 63'). For Viadana: 3 tries (Wagenpfeil at 24', Roger Farias at 29', Sauze at 31'), 3 conversions (Roger Farias). Players: Thomson 4 out of 5, Lertora 1 out of 1; Roger Farias 3 out of 3. Temporary expulsions for Fourcade (Rovigo) at 14', Frangini (Rovigo) at 21', Morosini (Viadana) at 44'.
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