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Massimo Brunello’s third season, and a Zebre Parma side that is more Italian than ever. On paper, that’s good news. But when I look at the last two summers of transfers, the question I ask myself is a different one: is this team stronger or weaker than the one that showed real promise two years ago? For me, sadly, weaker.
After Benetton’s shopping list, it’s Parma’s turn: the federation-owned franchise that remains, like it or not, Italian rugby’s development team. A project that for years seemed hard to understand. Or maybe we just didn’t want to understand it.
Five seasons in one line
To understand where Zebre are, you have to start from where they’ve been. Since 2021-22 the URC script has rarely changed:
- 2021-22: bottom, 1 win, 9 points;
- 2022-23: bottom, no wins, 11 points;
- 2023-24: bottom, 1 win and 1 draw, 15 points;
- 2024-25, Brunello’s first year: second from bottom, 5 wins and 1 draw, 29 points;
- 2025-26: bottom of the league again with 2 wins, but a run to the Challenge Cup quarter-finals.
2024-25 was the real step forward, with almost double the previous year’s points. That’s exactly where to start, because it was after their best season that things began to come apart.
Summer 2025: the big pieces that were never replaced
At the end of that season Parma lost two top players: Danilo Fischetti, who joined Northampton Saints, and Andrea Zambonin, who moved to Exeter Chiefs. Luca Bigi left too, joining Valorugby, along with a group of overseas players who mattered: Fetuli Paea, Scott Gregory, Geronimo Prisciantelli, Ratko Jelic and Rusiate Nasove, plus youngsters such as Bozzoni and Andreani.
You don’t replace players like Fischetti and Zambonin, not in Parma: when a name of that calibre leaves, Zebre have neither the budget nor the pull to bring in someone of the same level. The incoming business was still balanced, built on swaps with Benetton and promotions from Serie A Elite: David Odiase, Giulio Bertaccini, Mirko Belloni from Rovigo, Samuele Locatelli from Viadana, Alessandro Ortombina back from France, Marco Zanon from Treviso, plus the emergence of Malik Faissal.
Why are Zebre becoming more and more Italian?
Because the overseas players who leave aren’t replaced by overseas players of the same weight. In summer 2025, against five significant departures, the only real foreign arrival was Argentine Martin Roger Farias. It’s a project choice, but also the sign of a budget that doesn’t allow for top-level international signings.
Some will say that’s a good thing. Of course. But every now and then you have to accept that, if you really want to compete at a higher level, you need a few signings. A couple of years ago, when Zebre named an all-Italian XV, we’d look at each other and say: “Wow”. Now that will almost always be the case, out of necessity.
Summer 2026: fewer exits, but almost nobody coming in
This year’s departures weigh a little less, but you feel them. In the front row Ion Neculai, a player Brunello had backed heavily, has joined Northampton Saints, while Matteo Nocera went to Lyon as a medical joker. Guido Volpi, Iacopo Bianchi (now at Rovigo), Giacomo Milano and Martin Roger Farias have also left; Luca Morisi and Enrico Lucchin have retired, and Malik Faissal has also moved to Northampton.
Then there’s Gonzalo García, the Pumas scrum-half. A bit chaotic at times, granted, but when he managed to set the tempo he really made the team move. Losing a little engine like that could be a problem.
Coming in, there is one name: Tommaso Allan, back in Italy to play what could be the last cards of his career and get to the 2027 World Cup in good shape. Around him, targeted additions: props to patch up the front-row emergency, a group of players from Petrarca Padova, scrum-halves Patricio Baronio and Lorenzo Citton, and South African centre Zane Bester, on loan from the Griquas. Tom Whorrod, a 2007-born English fly-half of Italian heritage, was also invited to pre-season training.
Last year’s departures were heavier, but at least they were offset: Odiase, Zanon and Belloni arrived, the last of whom proved an excellent player, and Faissal was promoted. This year, barring a few surprises we’ll discover during the season, very little is coming in.
Once again this year Zebre are getting weaker, getting weaker, and I’d say quite a lot.
A more mature squad, not a stronger one
The result is a squad that is promising, yes, and more mature. But in terms of individual quality, for me, weaker season after season. That’s the limit of a franchise working with the resources it has. Within this squad, unit by unit, there are still reasons for hope: I’ve set them out in the squad piece.
Read also
- Zebre 2026-27 squad, unit by unit: Fusco without cover and three fly-halves eyeing the World Cup
- Zebre: Brunello’s third season is the one without excuses
- What Zebre are missing: a lineout to rebuild and a scrum that holds
How do you see this Zebre side? Tell me in the comments on YouTube and subscribe to the DanPat Rugby channel if you haven’t already.
Danilo — DanPat Rugby