Italrugby, three test matches in Padua, Florence and Genoa

Italrugby, test match

The Italian Rugby Federation has made official the prices and purchasing arrangements for the Autumn Nations Series, the triptych of autumn fixtures that will see Kieran Crowley’s Italy face off against the super powers of the Southern Hemisphere, inaugurating the long 2022/23 season that will culminate in the Rugby World Cup “France 2023” next September.

The Azzurri will return in front of the home crowd on Saturday, Nov. 5 at the Plebiscito in Padua against Samoa, take on the Australian Wallabies at the “Franchi” in Florence on Saturday, Nov. 12, and close by receiving the reigning World Champions South Africa at the Ferraris in Genoa on Saturday, Nov. 19.

Padua, Florence and Genoa boast a long-standing custom with the Azzurri, with the Città del Santo re-embracing Italrugby for the 15th time – the first against Samoa, the last head-to-head clash in Ascoli in 2014, a 24-13 Italian victory – while in Florence the national team returns for the seventh time in just ten years.

The lawn of the “Franchi” has given Italy and its public some historic days – the 2016 success over South Africa, the 2018 one over Georgia – and witnessed a feat just grazed in 2012, precisely against Australia, victorious 19-22 thanks to a failed square by Italy at the expiration, for a draw only grazed.

Genoa, the city of the legendary and unforgettable Azzurri captain Marco Bollesan, who passed away in the spring of 2021, will find the national team again for the tenth time, the second against the Springboks, already seen at the “Ferraris” in 2001: last Italian appearance in the shadow of the Lantern in November 2014, against the Argentine Pumas able to win a narrow victory at the time, 18-20.