Northampton's Faissal among two Italy debutants for Nations Championship opener against Japan

Italy will field two debutants when they face Japan at Chichibunomiya Stadium in Tokyo on Saturday in their Nations Championship opener, with head coach Gonzalo Quesada handing first caps to back-row Alessandro Ortombina and wing Malik Faissal.

Ortombina earns his debut after a strong run of form with Zebre, while Faissal — who recently signed with Northampton Saints — is rewarded for a breakthrough season that took him from Italy’s U20 ranks into the senior squad. The pair join an otherwise experienced starting XV captained by openside flanker Michele Lamaro.

The established midfield axis of Juan Ignacio Brex and Tommaso Menoncello continues, with Brex set to make his 40th international appearance alongside Menoncello, the reigning World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year. Paolo Garbisi starts at fly-half with Stephen Varney at scrum-half, and Lorenzo Pani fills the full-back role.

Italy arrive in Tokyo with a strong recent record against Eddie Jones’ Japan, having won eight of the previous ten meetings between the sides, including their most recent encounter in Sapporo in 2024.

Quesada has also welcomed back Exeter Chiefs forward Ross Vintcent to the matchday squad after injury kept him out of the Six Nations. Veteran fly-half Tommaso Allan, who could reach 90 Italy caps if introduced from the bench, is among the replacements.

Italy XV: 15 Lorenzo Pani; 14 Malik Faissal, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane; 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Stephen Varney; 1 Danilo Fischetti, 2 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 3 Marco Riccioni, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 6 Alessandro Ortombina, 7 Michele Lamaro (capt), 8 Lorenzo Cannone.

Replacements: 16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Muhamed Hasa, 19 Riccardo Favretto, 20 Ross Vintcent, 21 Alessandro Fusco, 22 Leonardo Marin, 23 Tommaso Allan.