November Internationals 2024 – Italy vs Argentina – ARN Guide

Two of the world’s top 10 clash on Saturday as Italy host Argentina in Udine. The fixture is to be the first match between Argentina and Italy in three years. Los Pumas were 37-16 winners that day in Treviso. The upcoming contest will be 120km northeast of Treviso in Udine. A lot has happened since the 2021 meeting. Both teams are now ranked higher and both have completed monumental accomplishments in 2024.

 

FORM GUIDE

Current World Ranking: 8 (79.98 points)
2024-07-21 – Japan 14-42 Italy (Sapporo, JP)
2024-07-11 – Tonga 14-36 Italy (Nuku’alofa, TO)
2024-07-05 – Samoa 33-25 Italy (Apia, WS)
2024-03-16 – Wales 21-24 Italy (Cardiff, GB-CYM)
2024-03-09 – Italy 31-29 Scotland (Rome, IT)
2024-02-25 – France 13-13 Italy (Lille, FR)
2024-02-11 – Ireland 36-0 Italy (Dublin, IE)
2024-02-03 – Italy 24-27 England (Rome, IT)

Current World Ranking: 6 (84.30 points)
2024-09-28 – South Africa 48-07 Argentina (Nelspruit, ZA)
2024-09-21 – Argentina 29-28 South Africa (Santiago de Estero, AR)
2024-09-07 – Argentina 67-27 Australia (Santa Fe, AR)
2024-08-31 – Argentina 19-20 Australia (La Plata, AR)
2024-08-17 – New Zealand 42-10 Argentina (Auckland, NZ)
2024-08-10 – New Zealand 30-38 Argentina (Wellington, NZ)
2024-07-20 – Uruguay 05-79 Argentina (Punta del Este, UY)
2024-07-13 – Argentina 33-25 France (Buenos Aires, AR)
2024-07-06 – Argentina 13-28 France (Mendoza, AR)

 

+ STARTING LINEUP CHANGES (from vs + vs)

1 Mirco Spagnolo replaces Danilo Fischetti
2 Gianmarco Lucchesi replaces Giacomo Nicotera
5 Federico Ruzza replaces Andrea Zambonin
6 Sebastian Negri replaces Ross Vintcent
11 Monty Ioane replaces Jacopo Trulla

4 Franco Molina replaces Pedro Rubiolo
5 Pedro Rubiolo moves from 4; replaces Tomás Lavanini
9 Gonzalo Bertranou replaces Gonzalo García
11 Bautista Delguy replaces Mateo Carreras
12 Matiás Orlando replaces Santiago Chocobares
13 Lucio Cinti replaces Matías Moroni
14 Juan Cruz Mallía replaces Santiago Carreras

 

+ MOST CAPS

– T Allan (80), F Ruzza (57), S Ferrari (56), S Negri (55), N Cannone (44), D Fischetti (44), M Lamaro (41)

– J Montoya (102), M Alemanno (97), G Bertranou (65),  M Moroni (86), M Orlando (61), S Cordero (53)

 

+ LEAST CAPS

– L Lynagh (4), D Lamb (6), M Spagnolo (8), A Garbisi (10), M Page-Pelo (11), M Zanon (15)

– B Pedemonte (1), R Isgró (4), I Calles (5), G García (8), F Molina (9), J Oviedo (10), T Albornoz (14)

 

+ NOTABLE ABSENTEES

– Andrea Zambonin (LO); Ross Vintcent (FL); Stephen Varney (SH); Pierre Bruno (WI)

– Eduardo Bello (TH); Marcos Kremer (FL); Pablo Matera (FL); Facundo Isa (N8); Santiago Carreras (FH); Santiago Chocobares (CE);  Emiliano Boffelli (WI); Mateo Carreras (WI)

 

NOTES

• Udine becomes the 9th Italian city to host Italy vs Argentina test match rugby. It follows Florence, Genoa, Piacenza, Rome, Rovigo, Treviso, Turin, and Verona.
• Italy last defeated Argentina in 2008. The most recent win home Italian win over Los Pumas was in 1998.
• Los Pumas have 17 wins against Italy. Italy have 5 wins and the teams competed to 1 draw.
• Head Coaches Gonzalo Quesada and Felipe Contepomi were both Pumas with notable professional careers.
• Mirco Spagnolo will start for Italy for the first time. He says “Argentina is a very heartfelt match; it is almost a derby.”
• Thomas Gallo and Tomás Albornoz play in Italy for Benetton and Gonzalo Garcia plays for Zebre Parma.
• Five of Italy’s starting players were born abroad and are not homegrown. Sebastian Negri, Martin Page-Relo, Juan Ignacio Brex, Ange Capuozzo, and Monty Ioane qualify for Italy via eligibility laws other than country of birth. Negri and Capuozzo played for Italy u20.
• Juan Ignacio Brex is a product of Argentina and played Sevens and next-of-XV for Argentina.
• Replacement Dino Lamb was born and raised in England and played for England at u20 level.
• Louis Lynagh was born in Italy but is not homegrown. His family moved to England when he was 4. He played for England u16, u18 and u20.
• Tommaso Allan was born in Italy but is not homegrown. He moved to England aged 8.
• Argentina’s 23 players are all from Argentina and all are homegrown.
• It is Argentina’s first test match of 2024 without Pablo Matera and Santiago Carreras.
• Thomas Gallo, Julián Montoya and Joel Sclavi are the front-rowers for the 5th consecutive test match.
• Leader of the backs, Juan Cruz Mallía, starts at fullback and is the cover option for fly half.
• Matías Orlando earns his first test start in two years. His last start was against Scotland in 2022.
• The Pumas back-three trio starts together for the first-time.
• Argentine replacements Francisco Gómez Kodela, Matías Alemanno and Bautista Pedemonte did not play in the 2024 Rugby Championship. Gómez Kodela’s last cap was at the World Cup. Pedemonte debuted in July.
• Matías Alemanno is on his way to becoming the 5th Puma to reach 100 test caps. He will earn his 98th on Saturday. He debuted against Uruguay in 2014.
• Noting the level of Italy, Argentina’s staff decided against test debuts. Bautista Bernasconi, Benjamín Elizalde, Santiago Pernas, Justo Piccardo, and Gerónimo Prisciantelli are uncapped players on the roster. If he remains uncapped, Prisciantelli will become eligible for Italy in 2025.

 

PREDICTION

Form and playing styles combine to indicate enterprising rugby from both Italy and Argentina. Both have made headlines in 2024; Italy made history in the Six Nations and Argentina made history in the Rugby Championship. In short, the level of both teams has lifted in 2024. The teams are close in the world rankings with the home side ranked 8th and the visitors 6th. Argentina are favorites to win in Udine.

 

LINE-UPS

ITALY
1 Mirco Spagnolo, 2 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 3 Marco Riccioni, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 5 Federico Ruzza, 6 Sebastian Negri, 7 Michele Lamaro (capt.), 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 9 Martín Page-Relo, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 11 Monty Ioane, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 14 Louis Lynagh, 15 Ange Capuozzo

Replacements: 16 Giacomo Nicotera, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Dino Lamb, 20 Manuel Zuliani, 21 Alessandro Garbisi, 22 Tommaso Allan, 23 Marco Zanon

ARGENTINA
1 Thomas Gallo, 2 Julián Montoya (capt.), 3 Joel Sclavi, 4 Franco Molina, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 6 Juan Martín González (vice-capt.), 7 Santiago Grondona, 8 Joaquín Oviedo, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 10 Tomás Albornoz, 11 Bautista Delguy, 12 Matías Orlando, 13 Lucio Cinti, 14 Rodrigo Isgró, 15 Juan Cruz Mallía (vice-capt.)

Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Ignacio Calles, 18 Francisco Gómez Kodela, 19 Matías Alemanno, 20 Bautista Pedemonte, 21 Gonzalo Garcia, 22 Matías Moroni, 23 Santiago Cordero

 

MATCH INFO

Date: Saturday, November 09
Kickoff: 6:40pm (Italy); 2:40pm (Argentina)
Venue: Stadi Friuli (Udine, Italy)
Broadcasts: ESPN, Disney + (Argentina)
Weather Forecast: Partly Cloudy; 17 Degrees Celsius. Wind: 8 km/h

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant Referees: Andrew Brace (Ireland), Adam Leal (England)
TMO: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Búnker: Marius Jonker (South Africa)

 

HISTORY vs (1978-2024)

2021-11-13 – Italy 16-37 Argentina (Treviso, IT)
2017-11-18 – Italy 15-31 Argentina (Florence, IT)
2016-06-11 – Argentina 30-24 Italy (Santa Fe, AR)
2014-11-15 – Italy 18-20 Argentina (Genoa, IT)
2013-11-23 – Italy 14-19 Argentina (Rome, IT)
2012-06-09 – Argentina 37-22 Italy (San Juan, AR)
2010-11-13 – Italy 16-22 Argentina (Verona, IT)
2008-11-15 – Italy 14-22 Argentina (Turin, IT)
2008-06-28 – Argentina 12-13 Italy (Córdoba, AR)
2007-06-09 – Argentina 24-6 Italy (Mendoza, AR)
2006-11-18 – Italy 16-23 Argentina (Rome, IT)
2005-11-19 – Italy 22-39 Argentina (Genoa, IT)
2005-06-17 – Argentina 29-30 Italy (Córdoba, AR)
2005-06-11 – Argentina 35-21 Italy (Salta, AR)
2002-11-16 – Italy 06-36 Argentina (Rome, IT)
2001-07-14 – Argentina 38-17 Italy (Buenos Aires, AR)
1998-11-07 – Italy 23-19 Argentina (Piacenza, IT)
1997-10-22 – Italy 18-18 Argentina (Lourdes, FR)
1995-10-17 – Argentina 26-06 Italy (Tucumán, AR)
1995-06-04 – Italy 31-25 Argentina (East London, ZA) – RWC
1989-06-24 – Argentina 21-16 Italy (Buenos Aires, AR)
1987-05-28 – Italy 16-25 Argentina (Christchurch, NZ) – RWC
1978-10-24 – Italy 19-06 Argentina (Rovigo, IT)

 

HEAD TO HEAD vs

Italy Wins 5
Argentina Wins 17
Draws 1