Vintcent named alongside Varney & Zambonin in Italian squad

Gonzalo Quesada, Head Coach of the Italian Men’s National Team has announced the lineup that will face Namibia on Friday, June 27 at 2:00 PM (BST), with Ross Vintcent set to start at number eight, joined by his new Chiefs club team mates Stephen Varney and Andrea Zambonin on the bench, with the match taking place at the Hage Geingob Stadium in Windhoek.

This will be the sixth meeting between the two teams, and the fourth in Windhoek. Previous matches played in Africa have favored the home side, with two wins for Namibia (during the 1991 tour) and one for Italy in 2001. The most recent match was during the 2023 Rugby World Cup, where Italy won in Saint-Étienne in their World Cup opener with a score of 52–8. The last match between the two in Namibia was played on June 23, 2001.

In the starting lineup, the back three consists of Trulla, Gesi, and Paolo Odogwu, who returns to the national team after his last appearance at the 2023 World Cup in France. The center pairing is Menoncello and Marin. The halfback pairing, both from Zebre, will be Da Re and Fusco, reunited after last playing together against Portugal during the 2022 Summer Tour.

In the back row are Vintcent, Zuliani, and Negri, while the second row will feature Niccolò Cannone and Favretto. The front row includes Nicotera—making his first appearance as captain—alongside Riccioni and Fischetti.

Among the substitutes are three debutants: Di Bartolomeo, Hasa, and Belloni (the MVP of the last Serie A Elite season), along with Spagnolo, Zambonin, Lorenzo Cannone, Varney, and Bertaccini, all ready to come off the bench.

“We’ve worked intensely during the four days of preparation in L’Aquila and since our arrival in Windhoek, making the most of every available moment,” said Quesada.

“The biggest challenge was to regain rhythm and cohesion with the players in a short time. Some athletes haven’t played for five weeks, others for over 15, and some are on their first call-up and had to quickly learn our game principles.”

“One of the positives is the great energy the entire group is showing during this tour. We’ve managed the impact of training at altitude here in Namibia, which is a much tougher condition than what we’re used to, especially in terms of oxygen availability.”

“On this tour, every opponent is important and our approach to each match will be the same: keep progressing in our attack, show our true identity in defense, and give some players the opportunity to compete at this level,” said Gonzalo Quesada.

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Andrew Brace will referee the match.

Starting XV:

15 Jacopo TRULLA (Zebre Parma, 14 caps)
14 Paolo ODOGWU (Benetton Rugby, 6 caps)
13 Tommaso MENONCELLO (Benetton Rugby, 28 caps)
12 Leonardo MARIN (Benetton Rugby, 14 caps)
11 Simone GESI (Zebre Parma, 3 caps)
10 Giacomo DA RE (Zebre Parma, 2 caps)
9 Alessandro FUSCO (Zebre Parma, 18 caps)
8 Ross VINTCENT (Exeter Chiefs, 14 caps)
7 Manuel ZULIANI (Benetton Rugby, 32 caps)
6 Sebastian NEGRI (Benetton Rugby, 63 caps)
5 Riccardo FAVRETTO (Benetton Rugby, 6 caps)
4 Niccolò CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 52 caps)
3 Marco RICCIONI (Saracens, 33 caps)
2 Giacomo NICOTERA (Stade Français, 33 caps) – captain
1 Danilo FISCHETTI (Zebre Parma, 52 caps)

Replacements:

16 Tommaso DI BARTOLOMEO (Zebre Parma, debut)
17 Mirco SPAGNOLO (Benetton Rugby, 14 caps)
18 Muhamed HASA (Zebre Parma, debut)
19 Andrea ZAMBONIN (Zebre Parma, 9 caps)
20 Lorenzo CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 28 caps)
21 Stephen VARNEY (Vannes, 32 caps)
22 Giulio BERTACCINI (Valorugby Emilia, 1 cap)
23 Mirko BELLONI (FEMI-CZ Rugby Rovigo Delta, debut)