Zebre Parma enter 2026-27 trying to prove their progress under Massimo Brunello can survive a brutal regression.
After winning five URC matches in 2024-25, Zebre fell to 2-16 and last place in 2025-26, despite reaching the Challenge Cup quarterfinals. Their problem is no longer demonstrating that they can trouble good teams; it is sustaining that level across 18 league rounds and converting close games into victories. These five players explain why Zebre still have reasons for optimism.
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They include the veteran recruited to bring control, the halfback they can least afford to lose, a dangerous counterattacker, a developing forward who can narrow the physical gap and a breakout candidate emerging from the Italian pathway.
Tommaso Allan, Fly-Half/Fullback
No player better represents Zebre’s attempt to turn promise into results than Tommaso Allan.
The 33-year-old arrived from Perpignan as the headline signing of the offseason after entering the summer Nations Championship with 89 Italy caps. Zebre have young backs capable of producing attacking moments. What they repeatedly lacked in 2025-26 was somebody capable of controlling what happened after those moments.
Four of Zebre’s URC defeats came by seven points or fewer. In April, they lost three consecutive matches across the Challenge Cup and URC by a combined five points. Those margins make Allan’s skill set especially relevant.
He can manage territory, organize exits, kick goals under pressure and recognize when another attacking phase is less valuable than putting the opposition deep into its own half. That does not mean Brunello wants Zebre to stop playing. It means Allan can help make their ambition more selective.
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Giacomo Da Re and Giovanni Montemauri provide alternatives at fly-half, but neither brings Allan’s international experience. His job is not merely to create. It is to make a young team calmer when matches become chaotic.
Alessandro Fusco, Scrum-Half
Allan may be Zebre’s biggest name, but Alessandro Fusco could be their most important player.
Fusco had reached 26 Italy caps by the July 2026 Test against Australia and enters the season as Zebre’s clear first-choice scrum-half. That role became even more significant when Gonzalo García, a 17-cap Argentina international and 43-game Zebre player, departed for Pau.
Behind Fusco are Thomas Dominguez and newcomers Lorenzo Citton and Patricio Baronio. They give Brunello options, but the experience cliff is substantial.
That makes Fusco the player whose absence could most quickly alter Zebre’s functionality. His ability to deliver fast, accurate ball and manage exits should determine how effectively Allan can control games and how often Zebre’s dangerous outside backs receive possession on favorable terms.
The Fusco-Allan partnership is potentially transformative because its pieces complement each other. Zebre have runners. Now they need their halfbacks to consistently put those runners in the right areas.
Lorenzo Pani, Fullback
Lorenzo Pani is the player who can make Zebre dangerous even when their attack has not constructed the perfect opportunity.
The 24-year-old had reached 13 Italy caps by the July Test against Australia and enters 2026-27 as Zebre’s preferred fullback. After two significant injury interruptions before 2025-26, his presence gives Brunello size, counterattacking range and a backfield player opponents must account for in transition.
That matters because Zebre cannot expect to dominate possession against the URC’s strongest teams. They need players capable of turning imperfect situations into attacking opportunities.
Pani fits alongside Simone Gesi and Jacopo Trulla in a back three with Test experience and the ability to punish loose kicking. With Allan potentially providing greater territorial control from fly-half, Pani also could receive more opportunities to attack broken defensive structures rather than constantly operating under pressure.
His importance extends beyond highlights. A healthy, consistent Pani gives Zebre one of the clearest points of difference in their squad and helps turn their willingness to play with tempo into an actual scoring threat.
David Odiase, Back Row
Zebre’s biggest structural question is whether their forwards can keep matches playable long enough for the backs to matter. David Odiase sits near the center of that challenge.
The 23-year-old returned from Oyonnax to reunite with Brunello and quickly moved into Italy’s senior rotation, reaching six caps by the June 2026 national squad announcement.
His importance is physical as much as developmental. Zebre’s road defense collapsed repeatedly last season. They conceded 338 points in nine away URC matches, including 54-point losses against both the Bulls and Sharks to close the campaign.
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Odiase cannot solve that alone, but his development as a ball carrier and contact-zone presence is central to reducing the gap against heavier opposition. He also belongs to Zebre’s deepest position group, competing with captain Giovanni Licata, Samuele Locatelli, Alessandro Ortombina, Giacomo Ferrari and others.
For Zebre, Odiase represents the ideal version of their development model: a young player becoming an Italy-level forward while raising the club’s physical ceiling.
Samuele Locatelli, Back Row
If there is one Zebre player positioned to move from promising squad member to recognized international-level contributor, it is Samuele Locatelli.
His 2025-26 URC numbers already show involvement. Locatelli played 770 league minutes, made 129 tackles, carried for 116 meters and beat 18 defenders. He also received his first Six Nations call-up, while Zebre demonstrated their belief in his future by extending him through 2029.
The opportunity is real rather than theoretical. Zebre’s back row is deep, but international selections can rapidly change Brunello’s available group. Locatelli already has enough senior production to compete for major minutes regardless.
He also embodies the larger question surrounding Zebre. The franchise has become increasingly effective at developing players toward international rugby, but that success has not consistently translated into URC wins. Players such as Locatelli need to make the pathway work in both directions: becoming better because of Zebre while making Zebre better themselves.
If Allan supplies the control, Fusco the tempo, Pani the attacking threat and Odiase the physicality, Locatelli can help provide something equally important: evidence that Zebre’s young core is becoming capable of sustaining professional performance week after week.
Zebre Parma 2026-27 Frequently Asked Questions
How Can Rugby Fans In The United States Watch Zebre Parma On FloRugby?
Rugby fans in the United States can watch Zebre Parma throughout the 2026-27 season on FloRugby, with matches also available to stream through the FloSports app.
Zebre Parma 2026-27 Schedule: Every URC And Challenge Cup Match
Zebre Parma 2026-27 URC Schedule
- Round 1: Zebre Parma vs. Bulls, Sept. 26, 2026
- Round 2: Cardiff Rugby vs. Zebre Parma, Oct. 2, 2026
- Round 3: Zebre Parma vs. Edinburgh Rugby, Oct. 10, 2026
- Round 4: Connacht Rugby vs. Zebre Parma, Oct. 23, 2026
- Round 5: Dragons RFC vs. Zebre Parma, Oct. 31, 2026
- Round 6: Zebre Parma vs. Munster Rugby, Dec. 5, 2026
- Round 7: Zebre Parma vs. Benetton Rugby, Dec. 19, 2026
- Round 8: Benetton Rugby vs. Zebre Parma, Dec. 27, 2026
- Round 9: Zebre Parma vs. Glasgow Warriors, Jan. 2, 2027
- Round 10: 10Bet Lions vs. Zebre Parma, Jan. 23, 2027
- Round 11: Stormers vs. Zebre Parma, Jan. 30, 2027
- Round 12: Zebre Parma vs. Scarlets, Feb. 27, 2027
- Round 13: Ulster Rugby vs. Zebre Parma, March 20, 2027
- Round 14: Glasgow Warriors vs. Zebre Parma, March 26, 2027
- Round 15: Zebre Parma vs. Hollywoodbets Sharks, April 17, 2027
- Round 16: Zebre Parma vs. Ospreys, April 23, 2027
- Round 17: Edinburgh Rugby vs. Zebre Parma, May 7, 2027
- Round 18: Zebre Parma vs. Leinster Rugby, May 15, 2027
Zebre Parma 2026-27 Challenge Cup Pool Schedule
- Challenge Cup Round 1: Zebre Parma vs. Ulster Rugby, Oct. 17, 2026
- Challenge Cup Round 2: Perpignan vs. Zebre Parma, Dec. 13, 2026
- Challenge Cup Round 3: Zebre Parma vs. Toyota Cheetahs, Jan. 10, 2027
- Challenge Cup Round 4: Bayonne vs. Zebre Parma, Jan. 16, 2027