Gonzalo Quesada names the Italy squad for Saturday's clash against Argentina

November 12, 2026
59
Ultimate Rugby

Gonzalo Quesada, Head Coach of the Italian Men's National Team, has announced the lineup that will face Argentina on Saturday, November 14th, at 12:40 p.m. at the Stadio Marassi in Genoa. The match, which is the fifth matchday of the Nations Championship, will be the Azzurri's second outing in the Northern Hemisphere Series. The match will be broadcast live on Sky Sport Uno, Sky Sport Arena, free-to-air on TV8, and streamed on NOWtv.

This will be the 25th match between the two teams, the thirteenth in Italy and the third in Genoa. There are five changes to the starting XI compared to the first match of the season against South Africa in Turin on November 7th. Tommaso Allan returns to the starting lineup, with Ioane and Capuozzo on the wings. The center pairing of Odogwu and Marin remains unchanged, while Paolo Garbisi and Varney will take over the midfield.

Lorenzo Cannone remains in the back row, with Zuliani and Vintcent starting. Ruzza and Niccolò Cannone are in the second row, while Fischetti returns to the starting lineup alongside captain Nicotera and Ferrari.

Lucchesi, Hasa, Riccioni, Opoku, Ortombina, Locatelli, Alessandro Garbisi and Mori are ready to come off the bench, the latter returning to the matchday squad just over two years after his last appearance for the national team.

Georgian referee Nika Amashukeli will referee the match.

This is the lineup that will take to the field:

15 Tommaso ALLAN (Zebre Parma, 92 caps)

14 Ange CAPUOZZO (Stade Toulousain, 33 caps)

13 Paolo ODOGWU (Benetton Rugby, 11 caps)

12 Leonardo MARIN (Benetton Rugby, 26 caps)

11 Monty IOANE (Lyon, 50 caps)

10 Paolo GARBISI (Perpignan, 58 caps)

9 Stephen VARNEY (Exeter Chiefs 40 caps)

8 Lorenzo CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 41 caps)

7 Manuel ZULIANI (Benetton Rugby, 44 caps)

6 Ross VINTCENT (Exeter Chiefs, 23 caps)