History of rugby union matches between Italy and New Zealand

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The All Blacks first played against Italy at the opening game of the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987, beating them 70-6 at Eden Park, Auckland. The two teams have played a total of 16 Test matches recognised by both sides as full internationals, with New Zealand winning all of them by an average margin of 51 points.

Contents

The two sides have been in the same pool in 7 of the 10 Rugby World Cup tournaments to date but have only played each other 6 times because Typhoon Hagibis caused their scheduled meeting in the 2019 tournament to be cancelled. The first 11 meetings between the two sides since their first clash in 1987 were never played at the same venue, then two tests had been held back to back at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

Summary

Note: Summary below reflects test results by both teams.

Overall

DetailsPlayedWon by
Italy
Won by
New Zealand
DrawnItaly pointsNew Zealand points
In New Zealand303022161
In Italy808073428
Neutral venue505062374
Overall160160157963

Records

Note: Date shown in brackets indicates when the record was or last set.

RecordItalyNew Zealand
Longest winning streakNA16 (22 May 1987–2023)
Largest points for
Home19 (25 November 2000)70 (22 May 1987)
Away21 (13 October 1991)101 (14 October 1999)
Largest winning margin
HomeNA64 (22 May 1987)
AwayNA98 (14 October 1999)

Results

No.DateVenueScoreWinnerCompetition
122 May 1987 Eden Park, Auckland 70 6Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 1987 Rugby World Cup
213 October 1991 Welford Road Stadium, Leicester, England 31 21Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 1991 Rugby World Cup
328 October 1995 Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna 6 70Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 1995 New Zealand rugby union tour of Italy and France
414 October 1999 McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield, England101 3Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 1999 Rugby World Cup
525 November 2000 Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa 19 56Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2000 end-of-year internationals
68 June 2002 Waikato Stadium, Hamilton 64 10Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2002 Italy rugby union tour
711 October 2003 Colonial Stadium, Melbourne, Australia 70 7Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2003 Rugby World Cup
813 November 2004 Stadio Flaminio, Rome 10 59Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2004 end-of-year internationals
98 September 2007 Stade Vélodrome, Marseille, France 76 14Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2007 Rugby World Cup
1027 June 2009 AMI Stadium, Christchurch 27 6Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2009 mid-year internationals
1114 November 2009 San Siro Stadium, Milan 6 20Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2009 end-of-year internationals
1217 November 2012 Stadio Olimpico, Rome 10 42Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2012 end-of-year internationals
1312 November 2016 Stadio Olimpico, Rome 10 68Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2016 end-of-year internationals
1424 November 2018 Stadio Olimpico, Rome 3 66Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2018 end-of-year internationals
12 October 2019 City of Toyota Stadium, Toyota, Japan 0 0Match cancelled 1 2019 Rugby World Cup Pool B
156 November 2021 Stadio Olimpico, Rome 9 47Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2021 end-of-year rugby union internationals
1629 September 2023 OL Stadium, Lyon 17 96Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2023 Rugby World Cup

Notes

^1 The 2019 Rugby World Cup match between the two sides was cancelled due to Typhoon Hagibis and awarded in the tournament as a 0–0 draw.

XV Results

Below is a match that Italy has awarded test match status by virtue of awarding caps, but New Zealand did not award caps.

DateVenueScoreVictorCompetitionComments
22 October 1977 Padua 9 17Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 1977 New Zealand rugby union tour of Italy and France Italian President's XV - not classed as a full international
28 November 1979 Rovigo 12 18Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 1979 New Zealand tour of England, Scotland & Italy Classed as a full international by Italy only

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