Rugby, Reggio Emilia dominates in the final and wins its first championship

'If you can dream it, you can do it'. The supporters of Valorugby Emilia, a team in its first Scudetto final, had clear ideas and 'displayed' them with a banner. And the Reggio Emilia Diavoli went beyond the dream, beating with a net 27-5 the Petrarca Padova, who also had the field factor on their side. Reggio has long been a top team and this year had already won the Coppa Italia, but in the championship it had stopped seven times in the semifinals. On the other side a Petrarca used to these kinds of appointments, who at the Plebiscito Stadium - sold out, with 8,000 spectators - played their ninth final and who, also considering all the tournaments played until 1987, before the introduction of the playoffs, won a total of 15 championships.

The fact is that, also considering the balance of the two semi-finals, one could have thought of a match with the score hanging in the balance for a long time. In the first 15-20 minutes, however, in terms of ball possession and staying in the opponent's half, Petrarca came close to a monologue. It was a roaring start, but Valorugby were able to sacrifice themselves, defended with order and aggressiveness and limited the damage to a deficit of only five points. The Venetians' first and only try came following an advance carried by the scrum players, with subsequent spread play to winger Scagnolari, who went on to score.

After the first quarter of the game, the team coached by Marcello Violi (32 years old, the youngest coach in the Serie A Élite) began to put themselves forward in attack, also imposing themselves in the static phases of the game: in the scrum and also - surprisingly - in the lineout.

For the Reggio Emilia players, more determination, more concentration, far fewer mistakes and a practically impeccable middle pair (Casilio and the South African Schalk Hugo, voted man of the match): all this served to increase conviction and self-confidence, while Petrarca practically shut down.

The last 12 minutes of the first half dug the decisive furrow, because in such a short space of time Valorugby scored three tries, all converted. At the first opportunity Giacomo Milano scored, after a grouping that broke up the opposing forwards, gaining some twenty metres. A carrettino, they say in jargon, with a foul by Petrarca and the Reggio goal on the advantage granted by the good referee Gnecchi.