Italy reveal team for Springbok showdown
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Italy coach Gonzalo Quesada has named his team to battle the Springboks in Round Four of the Nations Championship at the Allianz Stadium on Saturday.
The clash in Turin will be the twentieth between the two teams and the tenth on Italian soil.
Quesada has named a strong forward pack to match the Boks on the physical front.
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Muhamed Hasa of Zebre Parma forms the front three with hooker and captain, Giacomo Nicotera, and prop, Simone Ferrari.
Samuele Locatelli will make his debut in the backrow alongside Alessandro Ortombina and Lorenzo Cannone, who has 40 international caps.
The halfback pairing is that of Alessandro Fusco and Paolo Garbisi, while Leonardo Marin and Paolo Odogwu will form the centre combination.
Lyon’s Monty Ioane will play his 50th Test, and he’s been named on the left wing alongside Ange Capuozzo and Mirko Belloni, who will be at fullback.
Italy: 15 Mirko Belloni, 14 Ange Capuozzo, 13 Paolo Odogwu, 12 Leonardo Marin, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Samuele Locatelli, 6 Alessandro Ortombina, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera (captain), 1 Muhamed Hasa.
Replacements: 16 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Ion Neculai, 19 Enoch Opoku Gyamfi, 20 Ross Vintcent, 21 Manuel Zuliani, 22 Stephen Varney, 23 Tommaso Allan.
Date: November 7, 2026
Venue: Allianz Stadium, Turin
Kick-off: 12.40 (13.40 SAST; 11:40 GMT)
Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: James Doleman (New Zealand), Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)
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