New Zealand-born duo Jayden Hayward and lock Dean Budd have been named in Italy's starting side to face the All Blacks at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Sunday (NZ time).
The test will be first time either have squared off against the All Blacks, since making their debuts last year.
Hayward will start at fullback, while Budd will start at lock for the Azzurri.
Hawera-born Hayward previously played for Taranaki, the Highlanders and the Hurricanes, before moving to Italy, while Budd played for Auckland, Northland and the Blues. Both became eligible for Italy under the three-year residency rule.
The pair started in last week's 26-7 loss to the Wallabies.
Italian coach Conor O'Shea is keeping faith in the squad that lost to Australia, by making only one injury-enforced change to starting side, with Luca Sperandio replacing Mattia Bellini on the left wing. The bench contains one change - Carlo Canna makes way for Edoardo Padovani.
"A great challenge awaits us against the current world champions. We must have the same approach against Australia in the field," O'Shea told a news conference.
"We want to end the November test matches with a good performance playing our best rugby."
Sunday's match will be the 14th time Italy and New Zealand have squared off, with the All Blacks winning all 13 previous matches, dating back to the 1987 World Cup. Last time they met, the All Blacks won 68-10 in Rome.
Italy squad to face All Blacks
1-Andrea Lovotti, 2-Leonardo Ghiraldini (c), 3-Simone Ferrari, 4-Alessandro Zanni, 5-Dean Budd, 6-Sebastian Negri, 7-Jake Polledri, 8-Abraham Jurgens Stey, 9-Tito Tebald, 10-Tommaso Allan, 11-Luca Sperandio, 12-Tommaso Castello, 13-Michele Campagnaro, 14-Tommaso Benvenuti, 15-Jayden Hayward
Replacements: 16-Luca Bigi, 17-Cherif Traore, 18-Tiziano Pasquali, 19-Marco Fuser, 20-Johan Meyer, 21-Guglielmo Palazzani, 22-Luca Morisi, 23-Edoardo Padovani
Newshub.
Join us for live updates of All Blacks vs Italy from 3am Sunday.
