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It could hardly be a tougher start. On Saturday 26 September at 18:30, at the Stadio Lanfranchi in Parma, Zebre open the 2026-27 URC against the Vodacom Bulls, last season’s finalists. And they do it with a front row being rebuilt on the fly, just days before kick-off. In the latest episode of Divagazioni di Rugby, Danilo and Cristian Lovisetto took stock of a game that, on paper, starts uphill.
A front-row emergency
The news broke well into September: prop Matteo Nocera has left for Lyon as a medical joker on a six-month deal. Zebre had to scramble and turned to three permit players from Italian clubs, all props: Argentines Juan Ignacio Castellano from Parabiago and Juan Barbotti from Calvisano, plus Filippo Alongi from Valorugby. Castellano goes straight into the starting XV, Alongi is on the bench.
The problem is the opposition. Having scrum trouble against the Bulls of all teams, as was said on the show, “is not exactly ideal”.
What kind of Bulls are coming to Parma?
Johan Ackermann’s Bulls arrive off a 36-7 final defeat to Leinster and have lost some heavyweights: Ruan Nortjé has joined Kubota Spears and Wilco Louw the Stormers. Among the arrivals are wing Thaakir Abrahams from Munster and, above all, Curwin Bosch, who starts at fly-half on Saturday.
His is a return that gets people talking: at Under-20 level he looked destined to take the world by storm, he won a few Springbok caps, then drifted a little between the Sharks and France, with Brive in Pro D2. Now, close to thirty, he is back in South Africa: according to DanPat it is not quite the last call, but not far off. Marcell Coetzee remains captain.
The verdict in the studio is blunt: the Bulls come to Parma with everything needed to wrap the game up fairly quickly, and on paper there should not be much of a contest. Hoping, of course, to be proved wrong.
How much margin do Zebre have?
Lovisetto watched the friendly against Benetton and uses a clear image. If a car has five gears, Treviso occasionally went into third in the second half; Zebre used fourth a lot. In other words: less in reserve, already in the summer. That is why he expects a very hard Saturday.
Danilo adds a structural point. Parma has always been a place where building is complicated:
Zebre are always that kind of destination where you struggle both to attract and to keep players.
Making do with what you have, in other words. With one difference, though: the fruit Zebre have at home, the two joke, is anything but dried up.
The year of maturity
And this is where the argument turns. Massimo Brunello’s squad, in his third year as head coach, has a core of players aged between 23 and 29, many around 25-27: the age at which rugby players are at their best. It was the theme of the previous episode, and it remains the key to the season.
For Danilo, between Brunello’s third year, the age of the group and the desire of some to play for a chance with Italy ahead of the World Cup, Zebre can do well this year. Even if the first stop, on Saturday, is the steepest possible. Alessandro Fusco will captain the side, with Tommaso Allan at full-back.
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How do you see Zebre’s opener against the Bulls? Tell us in the comments under the episode on the DanPat Rugby YouTube channel.
DANPAT Rugby