Italrugby, the lineup for the big match with the All Blacks
Italy-All Blacks
Gonzalo Quesada, Technical Commissioner of the Italian Men’s National Rugby Team, has made official the lineup that will face New Zealand on Saturday, November 23 at 9:10 p.m. at Allianz Stadium in Turin, Italy, the third and final Test Match for the Azzurri in the Vittoria Assicurazioni Autumn Nations Series. The match will be broadcast live on Sky Sport 1 and free-to-air on TV8.
It will beà the eighteenth direct clash between the two teams, the tenth in Italy and the first in Turin, which , for the occasion, will seeà on rugby make its debut in the Juventus stadium, open for the first time to a non-football event.
The seventeen previous records are all in favor of the three-time World Champions, currently in third place in the rankings after the narrow defeat suffered last Saturday in Paris against France.
Italy comes to the’last challenge of its international autumn after the comeback success achieved in Genoa on Sunday against Georgia, the fifth in ten test-matches under the leadership of Gonzalo Quesada who, at the moment, boasts on the Azzurri bench a score of five wins, one draw and four defeats.
For the test-match with the New Zealand XV, Italy’s Argentine CT makes six changes from the lineup seen from the first minute at “Ferraris”, reintroducing in the match list fourteen veterans from the ’’last direct clash won by the All Blacks last fall in Lyon in the third match of the group stage of the Rugby World Cup “France 2023”.
Capuozzo, having completed his return to the field protocol, returns to the fullback role replacing Gallagher in the extended triangle where they are confirmed at ’’wing Trulla and Ioane. Unchanged is the cup of centers most used by Quesada during his management, with Menoncello at first center and Brex who, in jersey number thirteen, is invested for the first time with the ranks of Captain of Italy – detected at the start of the match in three previous – replacing the injured Lamaro.
In the midfield, the starting pair from the inaugural test-match in Udine in the fall against Argentina is seen again, with Paolo Garbisi taking the field for the forty-second time in the number ten opening jersey at only 24 years of age, flanked by Martin Page-Relo at the helm.
Vintcent, Zuliani and Negri will take the field in the third line, while in the second line, along with Genoa’s Player of the Match Dino Lamb, Ruzza returns who was forced to miss the challenge to the Georgians due to a slight physical problem.
Finally, Quesada changes two-thirds of the first line, confirming only Fischetti on the left side from the first minute and reintroducing Riccioni and Lucchesi as starting hooker on the right.
On the bench five forwards – Nicotera, Spagnolo, Ferrari, Niccolò Cannone and Izekor, the latter for the first time to list competition in the November international window – and the three-quarterbacks Alessandro Garbisi, Marin and Zanon to complete the blue team.
The match will be directed by Frenchman Pierre Brousset, who will referee Italy for the second time in his career after directing them at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin against Ireland on the second day of the Guinness Six Nations 2024.
This is the lineup of’Italy:
15 Ange CAPUOZZO (Stade Toulousain, 22 caps)
14 Jacopo TRULLA (Zebre Parma, 11 caps)
13 Juan Ignacio BREX (Benetton Rugby, 40 caps)– captain
12 Tommaso MENONCELLO (Benetton Rugby, 22 caps)
11 Monty IOANE (Lyon 34 caps)
10 Paolo GARBISI (Toulon RC, 41 caps)
9 Martin PAGE-RELO (Lyon, 12 caps)
8 Ross VINTCENT (Exeter Chiefs, 8 caps)
7 Manuel ZULIANI (Benetton Rugby, 26 caps)
6 Sebastian NEGRI (Benetton Rugby, 57 caps)
5 Dino LAMB (Harlequins, 8 caps)
4 Federico RUZZA (Benetton Rugby, 58 caps)
3 Marco RICCIONI (Saracens, 29 caps)
2 Gianmarco LUCCHESI (Toulon RC, 27 caps)
1 Danilo FISCHETTI (Zebre Parma, 46 caps)
Available
16 Giacomo NICOTERA (Stade Francais, 27 caps)
17 Mirco SPAGNOLO (Benetton Rugby, 10 caps)
18 Simone FERRARI (Benetton Rugby, 58 caps)
19 Niccolò CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 46 caps)
20 Alessandro IZEKOR (Benetton Rugby, 5 caps)
21 Alessandro GARBISI (Benetton Rugby, 12 caps)
22 Leonardo MARIN (Benetton Rugby, 12 caps)
23 Marco ZANON (Benetton Rugby, 16 caps)
