Pavanello plotting bright future for Benetton Treviso

Following a summer of upheaval Treviso have made a slow start to the new season, losing each of their first four games in the competition.

With a new head coach - Umberto Casellato - and an army of new signings, hitting the ground running has proved tricky.

But Pavanello, a 23-time Italian international, believes patience will reap rewards in Treviso.

"The excellent job the club has done to develop talents from the top Italian young players has been crucial for us," said the second row.

"We have a lot of players in their early 20s in our roster and while they are not yet ready to fully contribute to the cause due the lack of experience, they will certainly form the backbone of our system in a not-so-distant future.

"I know for sure that if we stay healthy we will soon start playing with some more confidence with our back line and we will show that we are a dangerous team.

"We are building a new team and that requires patience and dedication from players, coaches and staff.

"We are definitely facing a tough time but Rome wasn't built in a day. We need to stay focused on our daily schedule and keep working. I am sure results will come."

And Pavanello insists it is not just new personnel that will reverse Treviso's fortunes - but also a new approach to the game altogether.

"We are coming from almost a decade of South Africa-kind of rugby, where the physicality of our pack was key," he added.

"We were used to running straight lines with our forwards to gain ground but we are now working at a more wide kind of running rugby so our back line will soon start to get more and more dangerous.

"It's not an easy task, obviously. It requires time."

Enrico Borra

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