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 seventeen Test matches recognised by both sides as full internationals, with New Zealand winning all of them by an average margin of 51 points.
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 Details Played Won byItaly Won byNew Zealand Drawn Italy points New Zealand points In New Zealand 4 0 4 0 39 208 In Italy 9 0 9 0 84 457 Neutral venue 5 0 5 0 62 374 Overall 18 0 18 0 185 1,039
Records Note: Date shown in brackets indicates when the record was or last set.
Record Italy New ZealandLongest winning streak 18 (22 May 1987–present)Largest points forHome19 (25 November 2000)70 (22 May 1987)Away21 (13 October 1991)101 (14 October 1999)Largest winning marginHome 64 (22 May 1987)Away 98 (14 October 1999)
Results No. Date Venue Score Winner Competition 1 22 May 1987 Eden Park, Auckland 70–6 1987 Rugby World Cup 2 13 October 1991 Welford Road Stadium, Leicester (England) 31–21 1991 Rugby World Cup 3 28 October 1995 Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna 6–70 1995 New Zealand tour of Italy and France 4 14 October 1999 McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield (England) 101–3 1999 Rugby World Cup 5 25 November 2000 Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa 19–56 2000 Autumn International 6 8 June 2002 Waikato Stadium, Hamilton 64–10 2002 Italy tour of New Zealand 7 11 October 2003 Colonial Stadium, Melbourne (Australia) 70–7 2003 Rugby World Cup 8 13 November 2004 Stadio Flaminio, Rome 10–59 2004 Autumn International 9 8 September 2007 Stade Vélodrome, Marseille (France) 76–14 2007 Rugby World Cup 10 27 June 2009 Lancaster Park, Christchurch 27–6 2009 June Tests 11 14 November 2009 San Siro Stadium, Milan 6–20 2009 Autumn International 12 17 November 2012 Stadio Olimpico, Rome 10–42 2012 Autumn International 13 12 November 2016 Stadio Olimpico, Rome 10–68 2016 Autumn International 14 24 November 2018 Stadio Olimpico, Rome 3–66 2018 Autumn International 12 October 2019 Toyota Stadium, Toyota (Japan) 2019 Rugby World Cup 15 6 November 2021 Stadio Olimpico, Rome 9–47 2021 Autumn International 16 29 September 2023 Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Lyon (France) 17–96 2023 Rugby World Cup 17 23 November 2024 Juventus Stadium , Turin 11–29 2024 Autumn International 18 11 July 2026 Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington 47–17 2026 Nations Championship
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 9–17 1977 New Zealand tour of Italy and France Italy was represented as "Italian President's XV" 28 November 1979 Rovigo 12–18 1979 New Zealand tour of Great Britain and Italy Classed as a full international by Italy only
Notes
References
Pick and Go Test Match Results Database