Rugby Leonessa 1928 is a former

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

club based in

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

. The team was formed in 2001 after the merger of A.S. Rugby Brescia and Rugby Rovato. Rugby Brescia was founded as XV Legione Leonessa d’Italia in 1928, while Rovato was founded in 1976. The newly merged team, coached by

Mathew Vaea Tuala Mathew M. Vaea (born 12 September 1966 in Motootua) is a Samoan rugby union retired player who played as a scrum-half. He was the manager of the Manu Samoa at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Playing career His international debut was during a te ...

and

Frank Bunce Frank Eneri Bunce (born 4 February 1962) is a retired New Zealand rugby union player and coach. He played international rugby for both Western Samoa and New Zealand in the 1990s, appearing in the 1991 and 1995 World Cups. He played in four int ...

, started in Serie A gaining the promotion 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, ...

with a record number of points (111 points) and 19 straight wins. In the 2003–04 season they played in Super 10 (now

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� ...

), but were relegated the following 2004–05 season, under the technical guide of

Lynn Howells Lynn Howells (born 29 May 1950) is a Welsh rugby union coach, who until March 2018 was the head coach of the Romanian national team, haven been the manager of the national side for 10 months prior to his appointment. Howells, born in Maerdy in R ...

. In 2008 the club was disbanded while

Rugby Brescia Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: ...

and Rugby Rovato went their separate ways.

Honours

* Italian championship ** Champions (1): 1974–75 (as

)

Notable former players

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 ...

Massimo Cuttitta Massimo Cuttitta (2 September 1966 – 11 April 2021) was an Italian professional rugby union player and coach. He used to play as a prop. He was the twin brother of Marcello Cuttitta. Early life Cuttitta was born at Latina. His family moved to ...

Alberto Di Bernardo Alberto Di Bernardo (born 4 November 1980 in Rosario, Argentina) is an Italian/Argentine rugby union player, who gained four caps for in 2013. He played club rugby for Treviso in Celtic League, Leeds Carnegie in Premiership Rugby and for Bourg ...

Ignacio Fernández Rouyet Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet (born 22 October 1978, in Buenos Aires) is an Argentina-born Italian rugby union player. Rouyet, who is a prop, played for Rugby Viadana before signing for Benetton Treviso in 2009. He made his debut for Italy against ...

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 ...

{{Rugby union in Italy Italian rugby union teams Brescia Sport in Lombardy