Argentina have lost prop Juan Manuel Pitinati to Italy. The 31-year-old has been named on the Italy XV roster to face Chile. Pitinari is Argentine born and raised. He is a product of Argentina’s high performance system but has now been selected to represent Italy.
The 31-year-old moved to Italy as an adult for the purposes of playing professional rugby. He briefly played for Noceto in 2021 before joining Zebre Parma in the United Rugby Championship (URC). He has played more than 60 times for the Parma-based URC side and has a strong command of the Italian language.
At the age of 24, Pitinari was called-up to play for the Argentina XV against Colombia. He played in a 79-3 victory in the Sudamericano 6 Naciones. The Argentina XV is Argentina’s next-of-XV. Pitinari was on a 24-man-roster saw which also included Pumas such as Ignacio Calas, Francisco Gorrisen, Lucas Mensa and Manuel Montero.
Argentines have been involved in Italian test teams, past and present. Italian victories over Tier 1 teams have included Argentines. Examples of Argentines in Italian jerseys have included wins over France, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Australia, South Africa and Argentina.
Italy’s contemporary roster contains Argentines Juan Ignacio Brex and Pablo Dimcheff. Like Pitinari, both players were born and raised in Argentina. Italy had no involvement with the development of the three players. All qualify for Italy, via eligibility laws, via ancestry.
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