New Zealand coach Scott Robertson named a near full-strength matchday 23-man squad to face struggling Italy in Turin on Saturday.
Robertson appears unwilling to gamble with blooding new players, despite facing – according to the world rankings – the worst team on the European part of their end-of-year tour.place in the World Rugby standings, squeaked past lowly Georgia 20-17 last weekend and were hammered 50-18 by Argentina the weekend prior.been in Robertson’s shoes, it’s a near certainty the South African mentor would’ve made wholesale changes in an effort to grow the number of Test-experienced players at his disposal.
“As our first ever match in Turin, our final match of the 2024 Test season, and the farewell match for Sam and TJ, this will be a great occasion,” said Robertson in a statement. Two-time World Rugby player of the year Beauden Barrett starts at flyhalf while Wallace Sititi – nominated by World Rugby as breakthrough player of the year – is across from Cane at openside flanker.
Italy coach Gonzalo Quesada has made in total six changes from last weekend, with injured captain Michele Lamaro handing over the skipper’s armband to centre Juan Ignacio Brex.
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