Rugby Club I Cavalieri is a rugby union team from the city of

Prato Prato ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Italy, the capital of the Province of Prato. The city lies in the north east of Tuscany, at the foot of Monte Retaia, elevation , the last peak in the Calvana chain. With more than 200,000 i ...

, Italy. They play in the

Top12 The Top10, known as the Peroni Top10 for sponsorship reasons, and formerly Top 12, is Italy's top level professional men's rugby union competition. The Top 10 is run by Federazione Italiana Rugby (FIR) and is contested by 10 teams as of the 2019� ...

having finished 2nd in the 2012–13 edition, losing to

Mogliano Rugby Mogliano Rugby 1969 is an Italian rugby union club founded in 1956. They are based in Mogliano Veneto (Province of Treviso), in Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five m ...

in the final.

History

The team was formed in 2000 through the merger of three existing rugby clubs: I Sorci Verdi (the first rugby team in Prato, founded in 1958), S.S. Rugby Prato and Rugby Iolo. During the 2005–06 season, they qualified for the Serie A play-offs for the first time. Hoping for promotion to the Super 10, they won the first leg of their semi-final before losing the home leg and going out by aggregate score. In the following season, they won both legs of the semi-final before losing the final 13–10 to

Venezia Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islan ...

. In the 2008–09 Serie A tournament they were promoted to the 2009–10 version of the Super 10, after beating L'Aquila in the promotion playoff 25–18. In their first season Cavalieri ended the regular season at the fifth place of Super 10 2009–10 and achieved the right to take part in the

European Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception i ...

. Cavalieri were drawn in Pool 1 Amlin Challenge Cup 2010–11 with Harlequins (ENG),

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 Delbhn ...

(IRL) and

Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine re ...

(FRA). The Cavalieri won their European debut against Connacht on 9 October 2010 by 23 – 21. In June 2010 Cavalieri Prato merged with other ten Tuscan rugby clubs to form "Cavalieri Toscana Rugby Eccellenza", a new rugby franchise with the aim to represent the professional élite rugby of region

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

. The team reached the play-off final of both 2011–12 and 2012–13 Eccellenza tournaments, losing the final against Cammi Calvisano and

, respectively. Due to economic and corporate problems, the troubled 2014-15 season ended with the last place in the standings and the subsequent relegation to

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 ...

. Florence 1931, also relegated from series A to

series B A venture round is a type of funding round used for venture capital financing, by which startup companies obtain investment, generally from venture capitalists and other institutional investors. The availability of venture funding is among the ...

, acquired the title sportsman and could therefore maintain the superior category. Subsequently the president of the club, Fabrizio Tonfoni decided, together with the top management of Florence, to proceed with a merger between the clubs, with the aim of creating a more competitive team in the Serie A championship. The newly formed team took the name of Rugby Club I Medicei, based in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

in the same sports facility as the now former Florence Rugby 1931.

Notable former players

* Patricio Fuselli * Nicola Belardo *

Kris Burton Kristopher Shaun Burton (born 4 August 1980) is an Australian-born Italian international rugby union player. His regular playing positions are Fly-half and Fullback. Burton plays as a fly-half but can also turn out in the fullback position. Bu ...

Alberto Chiesa Alberto Chiesa (born 25 February 1988) is an Italian rugby player. He represents Cavalieri Prato, with double role of player and coach, after the experience with Rugby Calvisano, an Italian rugby union club in rugby union club matches. In 2012 ...

Paul Derbyshire Paul Derbyshire (born 3 November 1986) is an Italian rugby union player. Derbyshire, who is a flanker, plays club rugby for Mogliano in Top12. Derbyshire joined Benetton Treviso from Petrarca in June 2010 for their first season in the Celtic ...

Andrea De Rossi Andrea De Rossi (born 8 August 1972 in Genova) is an Italian former rugby union footballer and a current coach. He played as number eight. De Rossi first team was Rugby Livorno, where he played from 1990/91 to 1999/2000. He then went to repre ...

Edoardo Gori Edoardo Ugo Gori (born 5 March 1990, in Borgo San Lorenzo) is an Italian rugby union player and currently he plays as Scrum-half for Colomiers in Pro D2. From 2010 to 2019 he played for Benetton Rugby. He was selected to the 25-man Italian squ ...

Marko Stanojevic Marko Peter Stanojevic ( sr, Stanojević; born 1 October 1979 in irmingham, England) is an Italian rugby union footballer. He last played on the wing for Italian Top12 club Rovigo. Before his move to Italy, he had played four seasons with Bris ...

Rima Wakarua Rima Wakarua (born 25 March 1976 in Auckland, New Zealand) is an Italian former rugby union footballer and coach. He played for Rugby Club I Cavalieri Prato having previously played for Gran Parma Rugby, at fly-half. Biography Wakarua is a natu ...

Billy Ngawini Billy Ngawini (born 24 August 1981) is an Italian international rugby union footballer who plays for Rugby Rovigo Delta in the Top12 and Amlin Challenge Cup in Europe. He has previously played in the National Provincial Championship and rugby ...

Results

* 2000–01 2nd place serie B * 2001–02 1st place serie B (promoted to serie A) * 2002–03 3rd place serie A * 2003–04 3rd place serie A * 2004–05 5th place serie A * 2005–06 2nd place serie A (lost to Futura Park Roma at playoff semifinal) * 2006–07 2nd place serie A (lost to Venezia at playoff final) * 2007–08 2nd place serie A1 (lost to L'Aquila at playoff semifinal) * 2008–09 1st place serie A1 (payoff winner to L'Aquila and serie A Italian Champion, promoted to Super 10) * 2009–10 5th place Super 10 (Amlin Challenge Cup qualifier) * 2010–11 2nd place Excellence (lost to Petrarca at playoff semifinal) * 2011–12 2nd place Excellence (lost to Calvisano at playoff final) * 2012–13 3rd place Excellence (lost to Mogliano at playoff final) * 2013–14 5th place Excellence

External links

Official site
{{Rugby union in Italy Italian rugby union teams Rugby clubs established in 2000 2000 establishments in Italy Prato