Two teams that will compete at Rugby World Cup 2027 will cross pathways for the first time ever on Saturday. Italy play host to Chile as part of the November Internationals. It is the last test match for both teams before the draw for Rugby World Cup 2027.
Current World Ranking: 10 (78.98)
Nov 15, 2025 – Italy 14-32 South Africa (Torino, IT)
Nov 08, 2025 – Italy 26-19 Australia (Udine, IT)
July 12, 2025 – South Africa 45-00 Italy (Port Elizabeth, ZA)
July 05, 2025 – South Africa 42-24 Italy (Pretoria, ZA)
June 27, 2025 – Namibia 06-73 Italy (Windhoek, NA)
Current World Ranking: 18 (66.72)
Sep 27, 2027 – Chile 31-12 Samoa (Viña del Mar, CL)
Sep 20, 2025 – Samoa 32-32 Chile (Salt Lake City, UT, USA)
Sep 06, 2025 – Uruguay 18-21 Chile (Montevideo, UY)
Aug 30, 2025 – Chile 16-28 Uruguay (Santiago, CL)
July 26, 2025 – Chile 35-20 Brazil (Santiago, CL)
July 19, 2025 – Brazil 21-35 Chile (São Paulo, BR)
July 05, 2025 – Chile 40-16 Romania (Santiago, CL)
 |
IN | OUT |
| 1 | Muhamed Hasa | Danilo Fischetti |
| 2 | Tommaso Di Bartolomeo | Giacomo Nicotera |
| 3 | Simone Ferrari | Marco Riccioni |
| 5 | Federico Ruzza | Andrea Zambonin |
| 6 | Alessandro Izekor | Ross Vintcent |
| 7 | Michele Lamaro | Manuel Zuliani |
| 9 | Alessandro Garbisi | Stephen Varney |
| 10 | Giacomo Da Re | Paolo Garbisi |
| 12 | Leonardo Marin | Tommaso Menencello |
| 13 | Tommaso Menencello | Juan Ignacio Brex |
| 14 | Mirko Belloni | Louis Lynagh |
|
IN | OUT |
| 2 | Augusto Böhme | Diego Escobar |
| 6 | Ernesto Tchimino | Raimundo Martínez |
| 9 | Lucas Berti | Benjamín Videla |
| 10 | Juan Cruz Reyes | Rodrigo Fernández |
| 14 | Clemente Armstrong | Matías Garafulic |
| 15 | Matías Garafulic | Iñaki Ayarza |
– Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi (LO), Edoardo Todaro (WI)
– Juan Sebastián Bianchi (SH)
– Giacomo Nicotera (HK), Ross Vintcent (FL), Stephen Varney (SH), Paolo Garbisi (FH), Louis Lynagh (WI), Tommaso Allan (FB)
– Diego Escobar, (HK), Vittorio Lastra (TH), Martín Sigren (FL), Marcelo Torrealba (SH), Benjamín Videla (SH), Rodrigo Fernández (LH), Iñaki Ayarza (FB)
- The match will officially open international competition between Italy and Chile.
- It is Italy’s first, and only, match of the year against a country from the Americas.
- It is Chile’s only match of the November Internationals and only match outside of the Americas in 2025.
- The match was scheduled to be Italy vs Samoa but Chile defeated Samoa to qualify for Rugby World Cup 2027 and send Samoa to repechage.
- Despite being in the November release window, Chile has not selected a number of European based players including Diego Escobar, Rodrigo Fernández and Iñaki Ayarza who are notably absent.
- Italy is positioned as 10th in the world and Chile is 18th. An Italian win will not change the ranking of either team as no points exchange will take-place due to the difference between the teams. In other words, Italy will be in Band 2 and Chile in Band 3 for the World Cup draw on December 03.
- The coaches of both teams are former Rugby World Cup players. Both competed at Rugby World Cups 1999 and 2003. Gonzalo Quesada played for his native Argentina and Pablo Lemoine for his native Uruguay. The players were also Stade Français players and were teammates at the Top 14 club.
- Regular captain Michele Lamaro returns to lead Italy in place of Argentine Juan Ignacio Brex.
- Italian debutant Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi is homegrown but moved to England to finish high school.
- Fellow debutant, Edoardo Todaro moved to England aged 14.
- Five Italian players were neither born nor raised in Italy. Monty Ioane is Australian, Martin Page-Relo and Ange Capuozo are French while Pablo Dimcheff and Juan Ignacio Brex are Argentine. In other words, 17/23 (73.91%) of Italy’s players to face Chile are homegrown.
- 22/23 of Chile’s players (95.65%) are homegrown. The exception is Juan Cruz Reyes who is from Argentina and is parent qualified for Chile. He plays his rugby in Chile for Selknam.
The build up to the match has seen cold conditions. It is expected to be cold on match-day with the potential of moderately strong wind. The match is a Tier 1 side at home against a Tier 2 side. Such fixtures will not be possible in 2026 due to World Rugby implanting the Nations Championship. The entirety of the Italian player roster is based in one of the English Premiership, Top 14, Pro D2 or United Rugby Championship. Chile’s roster is Super Rugby Americas focused. Italy are clear favorites to win in Genoa.
ITALY
1 Muhamed Hasa, 2 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 3 Simone Ferrari, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 5 Federico Ruzza, 6 Alessandro Izekor, 7 Michele Lamaro (capt.), 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 10 Giacomo Da Re, 11 Monty Ioane, 12 Leonardo Marin, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 14 Mirko Belloni, 15 Ange Capuozo
Replacements: 16 Pablo Dimcheff, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Giosuè Zilocchi, 19 Enoch Opoku Gyamfi, 20 Martin Page-Relo, 22 Juan Ignacio Brex, 23 Eduardo Todaro
CHILE
1 Javier Carrasco, 2 Augusto Böhme 3 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 4 Santiago Pedrero, 5 Javier Eissmann, 6 Ernesto Tchimino, 7 Clemente Saavedra (capt.), 8 Alfonso Escobar, 9 Lucas Berti, 10 Juan Cruz Reyes, 11 Nicolás Saab, 12 Santiago Videla, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Clemente Armstrong, 15 Matías Garafulic
Replacements: 16 Raimundo Martínez, 17 Salvador Lues, 18 Matías Dittus, 19 Bruno Sáez, 20 Augusto Villanueva, 21 Juan Sebastián Bianchi, 22 Tomás Salas, 23 Joaquín Milesi
Date: Saturday, November 22
Venue: Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa (IT)
Kickoff: 9:10pm (Italy); 5:10pm (Chile)
Weather Forecast: Sunny; 9°C; Wind: 19 km/h
Broadcasts: Disney + (Chile)
Referee: Adam Leal (England)
Assistant Referees: Adam Jones (Wales); Ben Connor (Wales)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Foul Play Review Officer (FPRO): Stuart Terheege (England)
| HISTORY VS |
N/A
