Italy name team to play South Africa

November 05, 2026
187
Ultimate Rugby

Gonzalo Quesada, Head Coach of the Italian Men's National Team, has announced the squad that will face South Africa on Saturday, November 7th, at 12:40 p.m. at the Allianz Stadium in Turin. The match, which will be the fourth matchday of the Nations Championship and the opening of the Northern Hemisphere Series, will be broadcast live on Sky Sport Uno, free-to-air on TV8, and streamed on NOW.

It will be the twentieth meeting between the two teams, the second consecutive in Turin and the tenth in Italy.

The extended Italy starting lineup for the 2026/27 season will consist of Belloni, Capuozzo, and Ioane, the same trio that played against Chile in November 2025, with Belloni and Capuozzo swapping shirts. The Lyon winger will reach 50 caps in the match against the reigning World Champions. The center pairing will consist of Marin and Odogwu, while the key midfielders will be Paolo Garbisi and Alessandro Fusco.

In the back row, after participating in the 2026 Guinness Six Nations camp without being used, Samuele Locatelli will make his debut wearing the number seven jersey, completing the lineup with Lorenzo Cannone and Ortombina. The second row will feature the experience of Ruzza and Niccolò Cannone, while in the front row, Giacomo Nicotera will collect his second cap as captain, leading the national team for the first time on home soil after debuting in the role during the 2025 tour of Namibia, with Niccolò Cannone and Paolo Garbisi chosen as vice-captains.

Completing the lineup alongside the Stade Francais hooker will be Ferrari – along with Allan, the only two players to have returned from the victory against South Africa in Florence in 2016 – and Hasa.

Ready to come off the bench are Di Bartolomeo, Fischetti, Neculai, Opoku, Vintcent, Varney and the veteran Allan.

The match will be refereed by Irishman Eoghan Cross.

This is the lineup that will take to the field:

15 Mirko BELLONI (Zebre Parma, 3 caps)

14 Ange CAPUOZZO (Stade Toulousain, 32 caps)

13 Paolo ODOGWU (Benetton Rugby, 10 caps)

12 Leonardo MARIN (Benetton Rugby, 25 caps)

11 Monty IOANE (Lyon, 49 caps)

10 Paolo GARBISI (Perpignan, 57 caps)

9 Alessandro FUSCO (Zebre Parma, 27 caps)

8 Lorenzo CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 40 caps)

7 Samuele LOCATELLI (Zebre Parma, rookie)