The president of the second finalist of the Serie A Elite spoke about the derby with Rovigo, the final and the possible new direction of his team
Banzato: “Petrarch in URC? No comment. We only think about the scudetto” – ph. Massimiliano Carnabuci
Petrarca won their fourth consecutive Scudetto final, beating Rovigo in a very tight derby which ended 24-22 for Marcato’s team, despite the final assault from the rossoblù. The “Battaglini” challenge delivered the final of the Serie A Elite to Padova, who will face Viadana, winner of the regular season and great surprise of this season. Now, there will be 3 weeks to prepare for the final on 2 June at the Lanfranchi in Parma, but in the meantime the president of Petrarca Alessandro Banzato is enjoying the victory, as told to Il Mattino di Padova.
“We won an objectively very tough match, in a context of the highest level of play and crowd. Having conquered the Battaglini is an enormous satisfaction for the boys. At 14-0 I knew it wasn’t over but I honestly thought we would have managed it better. However, there are also opponents on the pitch, and sooner or later some mistakes on our part were inevitable. We didn’t always defend well but in the decisive moment we pulled together and repelled Rovigo’s attack. We are really happy with the undertaking.”
Read also: Coach Lodi leaves Rovigo: a future for Zebre and Italy Under 20?
“We will have to beat an opponent who has shown that he deserves the final 100%, winning the championship standings and the double playoff round. I totally agree with Andrea Trotta, the most correct final is Petrarca-Viadana” said Banzato regarding the final.
The end of Banzato’s interview, however, was dedicated to the rumors spread in recent days and reported by the Venetian press on a possible arrival of Petrarca in the United Rugby Championship from 2025. On 9 May Il Gazzettino di Padova had in fact written about the meeting had by Banzato with the FIR president Innocenti, who would have shown his openness to a possible entry of Petrarca into the URC.
There would be three possible hypotheses: an expansion of the Tournament to 18 teams, with the entry of Petrarca and another team; a replacement with one of the Welsh franchises, in serious crisis in this period; or a replacement with the Zebras.
In any case, Banzato did not want to comment on the issue, saying that he now wants to focus only on the Serie A Elite final: “No comment – he replied to Il Mattino -. This is not the time to talk about future scenarios, because now we only have one thing in mind: becoming Italian champions again.”
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