IT
ENA week on, it starts to sink in. During the season the matches come thick and fast, the breaks are few and the good moments risk passing by without you really enjoying them. Only now, with a cool head, Valorugby Emilia is realising what it has done: the first Scudetto in its history, Reggio rugby at the top of the national roll of honour for the first time.
At our microphones, head coach Marcello Violi opened the dressing-room door and explained how you build a feat like this. The word that comes up most often isn’t “talent”. It’s identity.
The group identity that kept the pressure out
Italian rugby has changed: every team sets out to win and the pressure, Violi says, “thank goodness it’s there”. The point is what you do with it. In a world where it’s impossible not to read the statements, the interviews, the rumours, Valorugby built a shield made of internal chemistry and energy.
This group identity, this strength, this chemistry, this energy that formed between us managed to keep out all those statements.
The credit, for the coach, goes first of all to the players: it was they who helped the staff move away from outside pressure. With, behind them, a club that stayed close and conveyed confidence in the tricky moments.
A balancing act
On the pitch, Valorugby’s hallmark was balance. Not just the vertical, kicking game of those who favour the boot, not just the expansive game of those who always look for width: the Diavoli found the middle way, alternating depth and width, using the boot at the right moment and looking after the set piece.
It’s balance, according to Violi, that’s the key within a match as within a whole season. An almost perfect job, the kind worth full marks.
Squad depth and the growth of the youngsters
There’s a fact the coach claims with pride: no one, this year, stood still. The young lads all improved, raised the team’s average level and competed for a starting spot right to the end, staying in the race even when they weren’t picked for two or three games.
It’s the most satisfying part, because it’s those youngsters who represent the club’s future. Managing the 23-man matchday squad remains the cross to bear — those left out are always a wound — but it’s also the sign of a deep, healthy group.
The final: 27-5 over Petrarca, and a scrum prepared in detail
The final at Padua’s Stadio Plebiscito ended 27-5 to the Reggio side. Petrarca, driven by home advantage, started strongly but managed only one try; Valorugby absorbed the blow and, once they found their rhythm, swung the momentum with three tries that shaped the game.
The scrum deserves a chapter of its own. Aware of the weight of the opponents’ front-row impact players — a weapon Petrarca had used to good effect in the semi-finals — the Reggio side prepared by studying them technically. From the bench, the introduction of the pack with Minervino, Barbatti and Pisani gave the impact they were after in the second half, holding off what was meant to be the Padua side’s strength.
Violi also wanted to say a word for the referee: a communicative performance, with the TMO never called, which made the final enjoyable to watch.
Not just the Scudetto: the perfect season
The title is the high point of a season to frame: the Coppa Italia, first place in the regular season and then the final won. A journey that also brought individual recognition, with Violi named best coach in Serie A Elite. A thank-you, from him, also went to the League, the format’s partner all season long.
What remains is the fact that changes history: for the first time, Reggio Emilia are Italian champions.
Read also
- Valorugby campione d’Italia: la cronaca della finale col Petrarca (27-5)
- Marcello Violi, dalla maglia alla panchina: il mediano che ha vinto da allenatore
- Luca Bigi, l’addio al campo: il capitano azzurro chiude da campione d’Italia
Hai visto la puntata speciale di Serie A Elite Show con i campioni d’Italia? Diccelo nei commenti e iscriviti al canale DanPat Rugby per non perdere le prossime interviste.
DanPat Rugby