Rovigo, 14 June 2024 – A special evening organized by Panathlon Club Rovigo, featuring rugby, more precisely the derby between Rovigo and Padua. At the president’s table, Pia Polierothe coaches who led the two teams in the season just ended: Alessandro Lodi for the rossoblù Rodigini and Andrea Marcatofresh champion of Italy with the Paduan tuttineri.
With them also the presidents Francesco Zambelli of FemiCz Rovigo and Alessandro Banzato of Petrarca, together with the vice president of the Cariparo Foundation, Giuseppe Toffoli, the Olympic Laura Foralosso And Vittorio Cogoformer vice president of Fir.
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The VIPs of the evening
An evening enriched by the presence of Pasquale Presuttiformer coach of Petrarca and Fiamme Oro, the only coach to win two finals in Rovigo, beating the rossoblù (scudetto in 2011 and Coppa Italia in 2014) and Matteo Marana championship with the Rovigo shirt in 2016.
Lodi and Marcato are united by a common professional future, having in fact been chosen by the Italian Rugby Federation to lead the U23 Academies of Parma and Treviso respectively, and will together be assistant coaches of the U20 national team leaving for the World Rugby U20 Championship.
Rovigo-Petrarca: the derby
But the theme was the Derby. During the convivial event, the highlights of the matches that have recently marked the history of were screened on a loop Rugby Rovigo and Petrarca Rugb y. The 2023 scudetto final, which projected Lodi into the rossoblù Olympus, given that as coach he had also won the scudetto with the U18s in 2016, and the semi-final of 12 May, which saw Andrea Marcato’s Petrarca triumph.
Almost 5 minutes of interminable action, 40 phases, an infinite series of pick and gos, and an unattempted drop, which could have allowed Rovigo to win. Andrea Marcato, who as a player won 5 championships (4 with Treviso and 1 with Calvisano), 1 Italian Cup, 1 Excellence Trophy and two Italian Super Cups, without forgetting the numerous appearances for the Azzurri (he scored the winning drop at the Flaminio against Scotland in the 2008 Six Nations), is the most successful coach in recent oval history. With Petrarca he won three championships (2018, 2022 and 2024) and an Italian Cup.
Training in your own city: “Unique emotion”
“I was a privileged, Marcato began. I’m from Padua, after Selvazzano I grew up in Petrarca, returning as a player was the closing of a circle for me, then I was lucky enough at 34 to be able to be the coach for 7 wonderful years. I immediately understood that I was part of a big thing, a super solid company. With Rovigo in the last 5 years it has been the match of matches, from there I started to understand what the derby is, especially for Padova, it is the only match that absolutely must be won. Whether it’s a pre-season friendly or a regular season, the whole club and management come alive on the eve of the match. That’s the beauty of this challenge.”
For Alessandro Lodi, “coaching your hometown club is unique and indescribable. I lived near Battaglini, I grew up seeing the championships of Roma (1988) and Brescia (1990), those players motivated me. Being on the public side, and then on the bench, knowing what the city experiences, was something truly special.
A privilege, but also a duty towards the city and the club, in carrying forward those values that the rossoblù shirt requires. An unforgettable experience, I thank President Zambelli for the opportunity. If in Padua the whole Petrarca club comes alive, when there is a derby here the whole city comes alive. Everyone wants to beat Petrarca.”
Strategy on the pitch
In the 2023 final, Petrarca was the favourite, but Rovigo prevailed 16-9 with a rock-solid defence. “It’s a match I still dream about,” said Marcato with a touch of emotion. I think this year’s championship settled the feelings of that final. A game with enormous pressure, maybe I wasn’t able to manage it well with the boys. I thought about the match many times, maybe we could have done with a few places, I was criticized, but I was consistent with what we did during the season, Rovigo put up an incredible defense. Going back I would have called some kicks, even if it is the team, and the captain, who ultimately decided on the pitch, but I take responsibility, it’s right like this.” Recalling last year’s victory, Lodi said: “My first thought after the victory in Parma went to my son.”
The semi-final
On the semi-final on May 12th against Petrarca, and on the possible victory drop not attempted by Dogliani, Ale Lodi was clear: “However many situations you can train during the week, there are moments in which the players on the pitch must take responsibility for understand when the time is right, personally I don’t feel like saying why they didn’t do it, I absolutely didn’t ask. Blaming a single player is not what I like to do. We lost as a group, we had almost five minutes of possession, in a game that had 44 minutes of ball in play. Petrarca did well not to take a penalty, but we gave away 14 points too easily, and that’s where the match got complicated: 22-24 at the end, Petrarca went to the final, and three weeks later they also won with merit.”
Better to win the semi-final in Rovigo or not scudetto? “I’ll tell you about the tricolor right away,” said Marcato. The match against Rovigo was certainly important for me from a personal point of view, after the final we lost last year we had to win that match, the club cared a lot about it. If we had lost I knew I would have finished my work in Padua, and I had asked the boys to give me another three weeks to spend together. The last 5 minutes of the Battaglini I kept seeing the action of Greeff’s goal at the Plebiscito (final of 2 June 2022 won by Rovigo at the end), I told myself that it couldn’t happen a second time, in the end it went well”.
