Italian side Benetton may be the freshest in South African memories from their shock Rainbow Cup win over the Vodacom Bulls, but the Treviso-based side have a rich history and are one of the rising clubs in Europe.
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Captained by former Stormers scrumhalf Dewald Duvenhage and with South African players such as Andries Coetzee, Corniel Els, Irne Herbst and Rhyno Smith to name a few, they have built a solid reputation as a tough team to beat in Treviso. They stunned the rugby world when they won the Rainbow Cup in strong fashion against the Bulls last year.
The team was founded as Treviso in 1932 and has won 15 Italian national championships. The team has been owned by the Benetton clothing company since 1979 while Treviso have competed in the United Rugby Championship (formerly the Pro14 and Pro12) since 2010, and have previously competed in the Italian domestic championship.
While the majority of the current Italian squad is drawn from Benetton, some great international players have also played for them in the past, including All Black John Kirwan, Australian legend Michael Lynagh and South Africans Franco Smith, Michael Horak, Marco Wentzel and Bian Vermaak.
Since 1982 the club has also had a women's team, known as Red Panthers, which has won 16 national championships.
The club won its first honour when it took the 1952 Italian premiership. Benetton Treviso won its first Italian Cup in 1970 and in 1978 won the Italian premiership again. The year after Benetton became the main sponsor, the team's name became "Benetton Rugby Treviso". Treviso won the domestic premiership in 1983, then again in 1989 and in the 1992 season.
In the professional era they dominated Italian rugby, winning the championship 10 times. Benetton Treviso have competed in the Heineken Cup competition almost every year since the competition began in 1995 along with the professional era.
And while they have struggled this season, as the Rainbow Cup showed, they have the ability to surprise when they are least expected to.
