Zebre

The gap has a cause. When the Aironi franchise collapsed under its debts in 2011, the Italian Rugby Federation (Federazione Italiana Rugby, FIR) needed a second Italian team in the Pro12 and built one itself in 2012. It has owned and run the club outright ever since. The club has been described as a "black hole" of public resources. The federation tried to sell it in 2024 and 2025 and kept it.

Results have followed that pattern. There are no league titles or cup trophies. The best finish in the league was 11th in the Pro12 in 2015–16. The best run in Europe came in the 2025–26 Challenge Cup, which reached the quarter-finals. Carlo Canna is the club's all-time top scorer, and Massimo Brunello took over as coach in 2024.

In August 2022 the club became Zebre Parma and swapped its black and white for the yellow and blue of the city. The name itself is older than the franchise. Renato Tullio and Marco Bollesan founded an invitational side called the Zebre in 1973, and it played until 1996.