Wounded Italy welcome back flyer Ange Capuozzo for Springbok showdown

By SABC Sport
5th November 2026

Italy hot-stepper Ange Capuozzo will make his Test return for the Azzurri this weekend, after being included in an injury-affected matchday 23 by coach Gonzalo Quesada.

The versatile back, who can play full-back and wing, has not featured for the Azzurri since the 2026 Six Nations due to injury, but comes straight into the run-on group to take on the back-to-back world champions this weekend.

His return does ease some of the injury woes Quesada has to deal with right now, with Italy missing 15 key men including the likes of Tommaso Menoncello, Juan Ignacio Brex, Michele Lamaro and Sebastian Negri.

Capuozzo is joined by full-back Mirko Belloni and winger Monty Ioane in the Italy back-three this weekend, while Paolo Odogwu and Leonardo Marin start in the centres.

Paolo Garbisi and Alessandro Fusco form the starting half-back pairing, with Garbisi at 10 and Fusco at nine.

Quesada has also handed Zebre flanker Samuele Locatelli a Test debut this weekend, with him starting on the openside flank. He is joined by Lorenzo Cannone and Alessandro Ortombina in the back row. Federico Ruzza and Niccolo Cannone start in the locks, while Simone Ferrari, captain Giacomo Nicotera and Muhamed Hasa get the nod in the front-row.

Italy have also opted for a 6-2 split this weekend, with Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, Danilo Fischetti, Ion Neculai, Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi, Ross Vintcent and Manuel Zuliani the forward options and Stephen Varney and Tommaso Allan covering the backs.

Italy - 15 Mirko Belloni, 14 Ange Capuozzo, 13 Paolo Odogwu, 12 Leonardo Marin, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Samuele Locatelli, 6 Alessandro Ortombina, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera (c), 1 Muhamed Hasa.

Replacements: 16 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Ion Neculai, 19 Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi, 20 Ross Vintcent, 21 Manuel Zuliani, 22 Stephen Varney, 23 Tommaso Allan.