With Italy trailing 6-24 going into the last five minutes of their historical test match against the All Blacks at the home of European football giant Juventus, Italy created a bit of magic, to close the gap to New Zealand, all while being a man down following yellow card.
A slightly overcooked chip kick from All Blacks fly-half Beauden Barrett handed the Azzurri possession. Some quick handling saw Paolo Garbisi gather the ball, and quick thinking saw him put boot to ball, hitting a cross-field kick to the wing. The ball found Tele’a, who failed to gather it cleanly due to a challenge from Tommaso Menoncello. The ball bounced loose and was recovered by Marco Zanon. A dummy saw Zanon break away before he was hunted down by Wallace Sititi. A short pass to his right found Menoncello again. The Treviso centre, one of Italy's standout players, sprinted down the right touchline, igniting cheers from the crowd and dotting down for Italy’s first try of the game.
Menoncello who was named as the 2024 Guinness Men’s Six Nations Player of the Championship earlier this year, has also been named in the 2024 Fantasy Team of the Series for the Autumn Nations Series.
Stock in Tommaso Menoncello was already high, and he ended the Autumn with his reputation further enhanced. Three more outstanding performances demonstrated why he’s an essential fantasy pick in the Centres. He carried hard, beat 18 defenders, made 2 offloads, 18 tackles and also got on the try sheet once. He looks to be a potent attacking threat who will be relied upon for years to come.
