There is widespread hope that Italy’s match at home to New Zealand in Milan on Saturday afternoon will prove a pivotal occasion.

Few expect the home side to record a first victory over their powerful opponents, even though Dan Carter is suspended and Graham Henry, the All Blacks’ head coach, has made eleven other changes from the side that beat Wales last Saturday.

Instead, the success of the occasion will be measured in the extent to which Italy’s first game at the San Siro stadium succeeds in spreading the rugby gospel. All 80,000 tickets have been sold and the hope is that the impact will be felt beyond the game’s traditional constituencies.

Since they joined the Six Nations championship in 2000, Italy’s progress has been slow. Anyone who has experienced the wonderful Stadio Flaminio in Rome, which holds 32,000, will vouch for the passion of the country’s rugby supporters. But the team itself still relies too much on imported talent, traditionally from Argentina (think Sergio Parisse, the No 8 and captain, and Martin Castrgiovanni, the powerhouse prop), but increasingly from Tri-Nations countries. Only six of the starting XV that face New Zealand were born in Italy. Four are from Argentina, two from Australia, two from South Africa and one from New Zealand.

Satuday’s match will feature the first home appearance for Craig Gower, the fly half, although the term “home” has tenuous meaning in his case. A former Australia rugby league international, he plays club rugby in France for Bayonne, qualifying for his adopted country through an Italian grandfather. He won his first three caps on the summer tour to Australia and New Zealand, where Italy were beaten 27-6 in Christchurch.

Gower is hoping that his team are inspired, rather than intimidated by the San Siro atmosphere.

“It’s going to be a new experience for some of the guys,” Gower said. “They’ve just got to take it in and make sure they don’t get over-awed. We’re a passionate sort of team and I know the guys are looking forward to it.”