Amatori Catania Rugby is an Italian

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

club based in

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

. They are the only professional rugby union team in

Sicily Sicily ( it, Sicilia , ) is the list of islands in the Mediterranean, largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. The Strait of Messina divides it from the region of Calabria in Southern Italy. I ...

. The club was founded in 1963, and play at the Stadio Santa Maria Goretti. Amatori Catania have thus far not won the Italian championship, but have qualified for European competition, competing in both the 2004–05 and 2005–06 European Challenge Cup seasons, defeating

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the department of Hérault. In 2018, 290,053 people l ...

and

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbh ...

in the last season. They currently competing in the

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

History

Between 1963 and 1965 the first team played in Serie C but won promotion to Serie B. In 1969–70 they won promotion to Serie A, but managed to survive at this level for only one season. From the 1972–73 season to the 1987–88 season, for sixteen consecutive seasons, he always plays in Serie A. After a season in Serie A2, he won the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, obtaining again the promotion to Serie A, where he remained for seven years. In the 1996–97 season they were relegated back to Serie A2 and two years later back to Serie B but managed to return to Serie A four years later. The 2004–05 season, mark the return to the top division, which in the meantime has changed its name to

Super 10 The Super 10 was a rugby union football tournament featuring ten teams from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Tonga, and Western Samoa. The competition ran for three years from 1993 to 1995 and was the predecessor of Super 12 and Super 14, ...

, under the technical guidance of Orazio Arancio. The Amatori Catania, guided by the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other Coach (sport), coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manage ...

Jean-Michel Vuillemin, is the revelation team: from newly promoted to the semifinals, but they were knocked out by Benetton Treviso with the scores of 20–25 at the Santa Maria Goretti and 21–41 at the

Monigo The Monigo concentration camp was a prison camp opened during World War II aimed at civilian prisoners (mostly Slovenes and Croats). It was located in Monigo, a suburb of the town of Treviso. The camp was active between 1942 and 1943. The total n ...

. The following season is certainly more troubled despite the experience of the international head coach Laurent Rodriguez, but after a complicated start the Amatori Catania managed to hit a difficult salvation after a strenuous fight with the Veneziamestre which ended only on the last day. Worthy of note are the victories in the 2005–06 European Challenge Cup against

and

at the Santa Maria Goretti. In the 2007-08 season, the Amatori Catania, guided by Michel Ringeval, disputed a decidedly subdued league, which on the sixteenth day sees it relegated with mathematical certainty in

Statistics

European Challenge Cup

Selected former players

Italian players

Former players who have played for Amatori Catania and have caps for Italy: * Orazio Arancio * Ambrogio Bona * Benjamin de Jager * Alessandro Fusco * Elio Fusco * Jacob Gaina * Salvatore Garozzo * Marcello Gambino Urbanczyk * Andrea Lo Cicero * Massimiliano Perziano * Juan Manuel Queirolo * Diego Varani

Overseas players

Former players who have played for Calvisano and have caps for their respective country: * Galo Alvarez Quiñones * Lucas Barrera Oro * Gonzalo Beccar Varela * Gastón de Robertis * Marcello Gambino Urbanczyk * Alejandro Krancz * Juan Pablo Lagarrigue * Benjamín Madero * Carlos Neyra * Horacio San Martín * Fabián Turnes * Daniel Quate * Sebastian Levaggi *

André Joubert André Johan Joubert (born 15 April 1964 in Ladysmith) is a former South African rugby union player, widely known as "The Rolls-Royce of Fullbacks" for his pace, class, and seemingly effortless style. He was capped 34 times at fullback for the S ...

* Jono Fabian *

Paul Emerick Paul Emerick (born January 24, 1980) is the head coach of the American Raptors in Glendale, Colorado. He was the defense and skills coach and the 2019 interim head coach for the Houston SaberCats of Major League Rugby. He was a former USA inter ...

External links

Official site
{{Rugby union in Italy Italian rugby union teams Catania