Benetton Treviso Rugby

Treviso is the capital of Italian rugby and this club is its crown. Born in 1932 as a university group, it became A.S. Rugby Treviso after the war, won its first scudetto in 1956, and in 1978 the most decisive thing in its history happened: the Benetton family, of the textile empire born next door in Ponzano, bought the club and gave it their name. Half a century of dominance followed: 15 championships, 4 Italian Cups, 2 Super Cups, New Zealand world champions like John Kirwan playing at Monigo in the 1980s, and a professional era in which the Leoni won 10 titles between 1997 and 2010, becoming the most decorated club in Italian rugby after the extinct Amatori Milano. In 2010 they made the leap that changed everything: they left the Italian championship to measure themselves against the Irish, Welsh, Scottish and South Africans in today's United Rugby Championship, where they are the permanent flag of oval Italy, with the Red Panthers, 16 times champions, doing the same in the women's game. Few clubs in the world are literally dressed by their owner; no other owns its own colours.