PARIS
\nIconic 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\u00b4s whipping boys.
\nThe 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.
\nIn 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\u00b4s play-offs and the second-tier Challenge Cup semi-finals.
\nTreviso booked their place in the last 16 thanks to pool stage bonus point victories over former winners La Rochelle and Bath.
\n\u201cWe have to have the mindset in these type of games that we don\u00b4t think about the future,\u201d Treviso winger Paolo Odogwu told reporters on Thursday. \u201cIt\u00b4s an opportunity to make history for the club,\u201d he added.
\nTreviso, 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\u00b4s Stadio di Monigo home.
\nThe fashion brand\u00b4s 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.
\nNew 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\u00b4s spell, Treviso were almost guaranteed a spot in the competition as the highest-ranking Italian club before qualification was restructured in 2018. \u201cWe\u00b4d always been given our free ticket in as we were the Italians and no one ever expected anything more,\u201d Budd told AFP.
\n\u201cBut to see them having earned their position in the Champions Cup and then get to a last 16, God yes they deserve it,\u201d the former lock added.
\nThe 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.
\n\u201cWe are almost the main representative of the national team in terms of how many of the players we have within our squad,\u201d Odogwu said. \u201cThe better we do, the better the national team does and the better Italian rugby does as a whole,\u201d the six-time Italy winger added.
\nKirwan and Lynagh have long left the Prosecco sparkling wine producing region but Il Leoni still have some big name internationals in their squad. Lynagh\u00b4s 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.
\n\u201cI think he would be everything the club needs and the personalities there need,\u201d Budd said of Fekitoa. \u201cI can imagine he\u00b4d be very supportive of what our goal is, that the team is better, whether it\u00b4s from the bench, the stands or starting. \u201cFor him to come in, I think he\u00b4s worth every penny to show that attitude,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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\u00b4s 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-470833","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n