Ulster Rugby vs Treviso

CASELLATO PREDICTS EXCITING FUTURE FOR GUINNESS PRO12 According to Benetton Treviso coach, Umberto Casellato, European fans are in for another intriguing PRO12 season, writes Enrico Borra.

CLUB STATS //Location Treviso, Italy //Founded 1932 //Ground Stadio Comunale di Monigo //Capacity 6,700 //Last Game Edinburgh (H) 24-27 (L) Saturday 3rd Jan 2015 at 15.00 //Next Game Ospreys (H) Saturday 17th Oct 2015 at 14:30 //Recent Form L L L L L

will be able to contribute immediately to the Warriors’ title defence. “But in general, the way the clubs prepared in the pre-season will influence their season, that’s a pretty simple rule, and this year that is directly connected to the national teams’ preparation. “So it will be really interesting to see how the squads will progress to the second half of the campaign.” Increasing standards in the PRO12 has been widely recognised by the rugby community and Casellato is one of those who believe the competition is growing at an impressive pace. “I’m not the only one that says the tournament is growing in competence and competitiveness,” explained Casellato. “There have been results that has underlined its progress: Leinster, Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh’s sucess in the recent European competitions speak volumes on how the PRO12 has quickly become a force in Northern Hemisphere rugby.” This year will be an important one for Italian rugby, as fans are asking both Benetton Treviso and Zebre Rugby, historically at the bottom of the standings, to accelerate in the learning curve and start contributing to the competition’s global growth.

The presence of the Rugby World Cup in the first part of the calendar and the progress made during the last campaign, which ended with Glasgow Warriors’ historic triumph, will create the perfect base from which to build the future of the competition. “I think we are going to live through a pretty interesting season,” reveals Casellato. “Every club involved in the Guinness PRO12 has been vigorously active in the summer due to the World Cup, and the fact that they knew they would play an important part of the season without their best players. “Everybody has looked at bringing in quality replacements in time for the beginning of the season, and not to lose too many points in the play-off race in the first couple of months. “That’s basically why every team is now much more competitive than a year ago - larger squads with better internal competition. “Having said that, that doesn’t necessarily mean that every team will play better and will improve as there are different aspects to be considered when clubs introduce new faces. “First it’s not guaranteed that a player will contribute to his new club in the same way he did at the previous one and there are also frequently troubles from the players in adapting to the rugby adopted in a different competition. “So it will be pretty interesting to see how each set of coaches will implement the new signings and how they will integrate the new players into the set-up. As said before, the Rugby World Cup will play a crucial role this season. “Yes, a lot will depend on the Rugby World Cup pool stage,” explained Casellato. “If, say, Scotland, don’t reach the quarter-finals their players

STAFF // Head Coach Umberto Casellato //Captain Antonio Pavanello

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