The All Blacks lineup against Italy has been released, sparking a lot of talk among fans. The two sides would play each other in their second Nations Championship on 11 July at Hnry Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand.
Going into Dave Rennie’s second game as the All Blacks coach, he faces a side that has never beaten New Zealand. The two sides have faced each other 17 times, and the All Blacks have won every time.
And with such history, the pressure is on Rennie not to break it. In doing so, he named a strong All Blacks side, which he believes is the best for the task at hand.
ALL BLACKS AND ITALY LINEUPS
For the Italy game, Dve nnie made five changes to the starting 15 that won against France. On the bench, he brought five new faces, including two potential debutants.
1. Ethan de Groot (41)
2. Codie Taylor (107)
3. Tyrel Lomax (49)
4. Sam Darry (9)
5. Tupou Vaa’i (45)
6. Wallace Sititi (20)
7. Luke Jacobson (25)
8. Ardie Savea (107) (Captain)
9. Cam Roigard (18)
10. Ruben Love (6)
11. Leroy Carter (6)
12. Jordie Barrett (79)
13. Billy Proctor (12)
14. Will Jordan (55)
15. Damian McKenzie (75)
IMPACT
16. Samisoni Taukei’aho (43)
17. George Bower (25)
18. Pasilio Tosi (16)
19. Josh Lord (13)
20. Anton Segner *
21. Cortez Ratima (22)
22. Anton Lienert-Brown (88)
23. Josh Moorby *
On the other side, Italy has also named a strong squad, looking to make history as the first Italian side to beat the All Blacks.
15 Tommaso ALLAN (Zebre Parma, 90 caps)
14 Malik FAISSAL (Northampton Saints, 1 cap)
13 Juan Ignacio BREX (Toulon, 53 caps)
12 Tommaso MENONCELLO (Stade Toulousain, 40 caps)
11 Louis LYNAGH (Benetton Rugby, 14 caps)
10 Paolo GARBISI (Toulon, 55 caps)
9 Stephen VARNEY (Exeter Chiefs, 38 caps)
8 Lorenzo CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 39 caps)
7 Michele LAMARO (Benetton Rugby, 55 caps) – captain
6 Ross VINTCENT (Exeter Chiefs, 20 caps)
5 Andrea ZAMBONIN (Exeter Chiefs, 19 caps)
4 Niccolò CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 64 caps)
3 Marco RICCIONI (Perpignan, 37 caps)
2 Tommaso DI BARTOLOMEO (Zebre Parma, 11 caps)
1 Danilo FISCHETTI (Northampton Saints 64 caps)
Available
16 Gianmarco LUCCHESI (Toulon, 34 caps)
17 Mirco SPAGNOLO (Benetton Rugby, 25 caps)
18 Muhamed HASA (Zebre Parma, 9 caps)
19 Giulio MARINI (Benetton Rugby, debutant)
20 Federico RUZZA (Benetton Rugby, 72 caps)
21 Riccardo FAVRETTO (Benetton Rugby, 14 caps)
22 Alessandro GARBISI (Benetton Rugby, 23 caps)
23 Leonardo MARIN (Benetton Rugby, 23 caps)
FANS DIVIDED OVER ALL-BLACKS LINEUP
After the All Blacks announced their lineup for the clash against Italy, it divided fans.
@Tyrone Bingle “Come on, bro, where’s Preston? He’s so much better than Cortez by far; he’s a halfback we need to come on after Cam. He can kick with both left and right, that’s a massive advantage for a halfback”
@mitchwhiting1 “Give Beauden the 15 move DMac to the bench. This team is lacking way too much experience. U need to put Beauden back in”
@STACCE “Should have moved Will to 15, Moorby to 14 and BB on the bench. Take Dmac off, his defence was exposed last week”