Pro 12 Question

Hi guys I'm a casual rugby follower and was just thinking about the Pro 12 and the Italian teams. My question is do Italy have allocated European spots like football?, and if so, do Treviso and Aironi make anyone miss out if they qualify? Or, is it like the Football League where Swansea and Cardiff can't qualify for Europe as they're not English?

HC spots are awarded as follows:

Eng 6 places
France 6
Ireland 3
Wales 3
Sco 2
Italy 2

that is 22 places. Final 2 go to the countries providing HC and Amlin winner. (though countries are only allowed 1 extra team if they win both).

Each Union decides how they select their teams. With just two pro teams, Scotland and Italy enter both. So theoretically a team from Ireland or Wales could finish as high as 4th in the Pro 12 and fail to qualify for the HC.

So teams from the Italian league can't qualify?

No. They used to, but the italian union decided to pool the resources into two "Super" teams. One of those will cease to exist at the end of this season though.