Fly-half set to face former teammates after switching Test allegiance

Over four years since he won the last of his nine Argentina caps, fly-half Domingo Miotti has been included in Italy’s squad for the second leg of the Nations Championship.

Motti, who has an Italian grandparent, has completed the necessary three-year stand-down period under the birthright transfer ruling, and will now compete with Paolo Garbisi and Tommaso Allan for the Azzurri No.10 jersey.

The 30-year-old Montpellier player was capped by Los Pumas between 2020 and 2022, scoring 13 points, and could come up against his countrymen when Italy play Argentina in Genoa on 14 November.

After naming his 33-man training squad ahead of the match against the Springboks this Saturday, head coach Gonzalo Quesada said: “One of the greatest challenges in the history of Italian rugby awaits us: four consecutive matches against four of the best teams in the world. I have complete confidence in the players available. The three-day training camp with the full squad reaffirmed everyone’s great enthusiasm and determination. I’m confident that every player will seize this opportunity to demonstrate their value and the team’s character.

“As for Domingo, it all started three years ago when I arrived in Italy. He let me know that, having an Italian grandfather, he could represent the Italian national team. This year, we resumed contact. He explained that he would wait until July and that he would be happy to be considered for the Italian national team.

“Without making any commitments, we have explored this possibility. Domingo is a great player and an excellent person. He has shown great motivation and, despite having the opportunity to represent both countries, he made this decision.

“We are happy to welcome him and believe this is the right time to get to know him and integrate him into the group. He was unavailable last week due to injury, but he can now resume training as normal.

“With Paolo Garbisi, Tommaso Allan, Giacomo Da Re, and Domingo Miotti, we have four interesting options at fly-half, each with different characteristics. This gives us greater depth and healthy internal competition, which is very positive for the national team,” Quesada emphasised.

Prop Marco Riccioni has withdrawn from the squad due to family reasons and has been replaced by Giosuè Zilocchi. He is one of several senior players unavailable to Quesada, with captain Michele Lamaro, first-choice centre pairing Juan Ignacio Brex and Tommaso Menoncello, wing Louis Lynagh, back-rower Sebastian Negri and lock Andrea Zambonin all missing through injury.

Italy’s squad for matches against the Springboks (7 November, Allianz Stadium, Turin), Argentina (14 November, Stadio Ferraris, Genoa) and Fiji (21 November, Bluenergy Stadium, Udine):

Props
Simone FERRARI (Benetton Rugby, 73 caps)
Danilo FISCHETTI (Northampton Saints 66 caps)
Muhamed HASA (Zebre Parma, 11 caps)
Ion NECULAI (Northampton Saints, 4 caps)
Ivan NEMER (Benetton Rugby, 16 caps)
Giosuè ZILOCCHI (Benetton Rugby, 27 caps)

Hookers
Tommaso DI BARTOLOMEO (Zebre Parma, 12 caps)
Gianmarco LUCCHESI (Toulon, 36 caps)
Giacomo NICOTERA (Stade Français, 41 caps)

Locks
Niccolò CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 65 caps)
Mattia MIDENA (Benetton Rugby/Mogliano Veneto Rugby, rookie)
Enoch OPOKU GYAMFI (Bath, 1 cap)
Federico RUZZA (Benetton Rugby, 74 caps)

Back-row
Lorenzo CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 40 caps)
Samuele LOCATELLI (Zebre Parma, rookie)
Alessandro ORTOMBINA (Zebre Parma, 2 caps)
Ross VINTCENT (Exeter Chiefs, 22 caps)
Manuel ZULIANI (Benetton Rugby, 43 caps)

Scrum-halves
Alessandro GARBISI (Benetton Rugby 25 caps)
Alessandro FUSCO (Zebre Parma, 27 caps)
Stephen VARNEY (Exeter Chiefs 39 caps)

Fly-halves
Tommaso ALLAN (Zebre Parma, 91 caps)
Paolo GARBISI (Perpignan, 57 caps)
Domingo MIOTTI (Montpellier, debutant)

Centres
Leonardo MARIN (Benetton Rugby, 25 caps)
Damiano MAZZA (Zebre Parma, rookie)
Federico MORI (Bayonne, 17 caps)
Paolo ODOGWU (Benetton Rugby, 10 caps)

Back-three
Mirko BELLONI (Zebre Parma, 3 caps)
Ange CAPUOZZO (Stade Toulousain, 32 caps)
Matt GALLAGHER (Benetton Rugby, 3 caps)
Monty IOANE (Lyon, 49 caps)
Federico ZANANDREA (Benetton Rugby, rookie)