On the day when the new Italy rugby coach Kieran Crowley summons 34 players for the November test matches (the news with respect to the Verona meeting are Traorè, Faiva, Marin and Pettinelli, the last three rookies) the All Blacks of the Nuova Zealand land in Rome where next Saturday, November 6, they will challenge the Azzurri in the first of the three test matches that the new captain Michele Lamaro and his teammates will play this month, also facing Argentina on the 13th in Treviso and Uruguay on the 20th in Parma .
The arrival of the New Zealand giants in the Roman airport has certainly not gone unnoticed. Many fans among passengers and airport staff who asked players to take selfies and photos together. The All Blacks landed at 17.45 in Fiumicino. The three-time world champions arrived in Italy after a 54-16 victory at Wales at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, a game that set two important records: Alun Wyn Jones reached 149 international caps with the Wales shirt becoming the player with the most appearances in the history of Rugby, while Beauden Barrett – author of two tries in the match in Cardiff. – played for the hundredth time with the team led by Ian Foster.
Starting tomorrow, the All Blacks will start preparing for the match against Italy scheduled at 2 pm at the Olympic Stadium in Rome and broadcast live on Sky Sport and free to air on TV8.
«The work done in Verona was of quality – Crowley’s words in view of the ‘mission impossible’ against the All Blacks, a team of which the new blue coach was part and with which he won the 1987 World Cup -. These were intense days in which we focused on our goals and the game plan in view of the next matches: I can’t wait to be able to lead Italy on the pitch. I want to thank the players called up for the first part of the meeting and who will not be present now (Bellini, Lovotti, Sperandio and Zani ed), for the approach shown during this week ».