Treviso eye an ‘opportunity at history’ with Champions Cup knock-outs debut

PARIS: Iconic Italian club Treviso head to Castres in the Champions Cup last 16 on Saturday in their maiden knock-out appearance after decades of being the competition´s whipping boys.

The Leoni (The Lions) first played in the top-tier of continental rugby in its inaugural campaign in 1995 but have never advanced from their pool. Between 2005-2020 they claimed just six victories and conceded 50 points or more in a game 10 times.

In recent years their results have improved vastly across the broad with a Rainbow Pro 14 title win in 2021 and last season they reached the United Rugby Championship´s play-offs and the second-tier Challenge Cup semi-finals.

Treviso booked their place in the last 16 thanks to pool stage bonus point victories over former winners La Rochelle and Bath.

“We have to have the mindset in these type of games that we don´t think about the future,” Treviso winger Paolo Odogwu told reporters on Thursday. “It´s an opportunity to make history for the club,” he added.

Treviso, in their green and white jerseys, were founded in 1932 as a student team. They established themselves as Italian rugby heavyweights in the 1980s thanks to backing from clothing company Benetton, created barely 6km from the club´s Stadio di Monigo home.

The fashion brand´s support helped The Leoni sign foreign superstars like former All Black John Kirwan and ex-Wallaby Michael Lynagh and brought through Italian heroes such as Sergio Parisse, Alessandro Troncon and Fabio Ongaro.

New Zealand-born Dean Budd arrived in Northern Italy in 2012 before going on to captain the outfit as well as the Azzurri. During the majority of Budd´s spell, Treviso were almost guaranteed a spot in the competition as the highest-ranking Italian club before qualification was restructured in 2018. “We´d always been given our free ticket in as we were the Italians and no one ever expected anything more,” Budd told AFP.

“But to see them having earned their position in the Champions Cup and then get to a last 16, God yes they deserve it,” the former lock added.

The 15-time Italian champions, who joined the now United Rugby Championship in 2010, have the backbone of the national team in their set-up. Flanker Michele Lamaro captains the Azzurri, who have had impressive results in recent Six Nations with their Treviso contingent.

“We are almost the main representative of the national team in terms of how many of the players we have within our squad,” Odogwu said. “The better we do, the better the national team does and the better Italian rugby does as a whole,” the six-time Italy winger added.

Kirwan and Lynagh have long left the Prosecco sparkling wine producing region but Il Leoni still have some big name internationals in their squad. Lynagh´s oldest son Louis joined in 2024 and former New Zealand centre Malakai Fekitoa competes for a place in midfield with Italy pair Juan Ignacio Brex and Tommaso Menoncello, the 2024 Six Nations player of the year.

“I think he would be everything the club needs and the personalities there need,” Budd said of Fekitoa. “I can imagine he´d be very supportive of what our goal is, that the team is better, whether it´s from the bench, the stands or starting. “For him to come in, I think he´s worth every penny to show that attitude,” he added.