5 hours Ago By The Independent
play their final fixture of a long year as play host to the in Turin. After an up and down Rugby Championship, Scott Robertson’s side have produced three strong performances this November, though fell short against France in Paris last weekend. Italy, meanwhile, have had their progress from the Six Nations stunted somewhat by two disappointing performances against Argentina and Georgia, though a battling victory against their European rivals showed plenty of grit.
They will be desperate to lift their game against a side that ran rampant against them in a 96-17 win during last year’s World Cup. Here’s everything you need to know. Italy vs New Zealand is due to kick off at 8.
10pm GMT on Saturday 23 November at Allianz Stadium in Turin. Viewers in the United Kingdom can watch the match live on TNT Sports 2, with coverage on the channel from 8pm GMT. Subscribers can stream the action via discovery+.
Italt are without captain Michele Lamaro, who injured his shoulder early in the Georgia game. Juan Ignacio Brex takes over as skipper while Manuel Zuliani’s inclusion on the openside is one of six changes. Among those to come in is full-back Ange Capuozzo, who returns to the Azzurri side having come through return-to-play protocols following a concussion.
Jordie Barrett is ruled out for the All Blacks with a knee injury, so Anton Lienert-Brown steps in to the starting midfield. Sam Cane, meanwhile, returns to the side in what will be the former captain’s final Test; scrum half TJ Perenara is also in line to have his New Zealand swansong off the bench. Up front, Ethan de Groot features for the first time this November, starting at loosehead.
1 Danilo Fischetti, 2 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 3 Marco Riccioni; 4 Federico Ruzza, 5 Dino Lamb; 6 Sebastian Negri, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 8 Ross Vintcent; 9 Martin Page-Relo, 10 Paolo Garbisi; 11 Monty Ioane, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex (captain), 14 Jacopo Trulla; 15 Ange Capuozzo. 16 Giacomo Nicotera, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Niccolo Cannone, 20 Alessandro Izekor; 21 Alessandro Garbisi, 22 Leonardo Marin, 23 Marco Zanon. 1 Ethan de Groot, 2 Codie Taylor, 3 Tyrel Lomax; 4 Scott Barrett (captain), 5 Patrick Tuipulotu; 6 Wallace Sititi, 7 Sam Cane, 8 Ardie Savea; 9 Cam Roigard, 10 Beauden Barrett; 11 Caleb Clarke, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown, 13 Rieko Ioane, 14 Mark Tele’a; 15 Will Jordan.
16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Tupou Vaa’i, 20 Peter Lakai; 21 TJ Perenara, 22 David Havili, 23 Damian McKenzie. Italy win 25/1 Draw 100/1 New Zealand win 1/41.
