New Zealand boss Ian Foster dismissed his nation's unbeaten record against Italy as irrelevant as the teams prepared to meet on Friday night in the 2023 World Cup in France.
Italy have won both of the their matches in Group A and take on New Zealand at the Groupama Stadium in Lyon in what has effectively become a showdown for second place behind pacesetters France.
A first victory for Italy in the 16th encounter between the sides would eliminate New Zealand after the group stages for the first time in the 36-year history of the World Cup and provide the Italians with their first quarter-final slot.
"History means nothing," said Foster on the eve of the match. "History is yesterday's newspaper, isn't it? Not tomorrow's."
Foster's side lie third in the pool with five points - five behind the Italians who have gained bonus points in their wins over Namibia and Uruguay. A draw would set up a grandstand finish to the group stages in which points difference would determine the quarter-final candidate.
Prize
"They are in a situation, same as us, they need to win to move on," said the Italy coach Kieran Crowley who played for New Zealand between 1983 and 1991.
"This is a Italy new team," Crowley added. "This team has never played New Zealand. Yes, there are statistics and there is history but history is always there to be broken."
Italy opened their World Cup campaign with a 52-8 victory over Namibia a day after France beat New Zealand at the Stade de France.
New Zealand relaunched their bid for a record fourth World Cup with a 71-3 mauling of Namibia while Italy won their second match against Uruguay 38-17.
"We are under no illusions," added Crowley. "They are going to come at us. They are going to be aggressive and they are going to try to intimidate us. They'll try to bully us. We have to embrace that challenge."
Changes
Foster announced nine changes to the line-up that started the match against Namibia.
Only Ofa Tuungafasi, Nepo Laulala, Brodie Retallick, Dalton Papali’i, Ardie Savea and Beauden Barrett retain their places.
Squad captain Sam Cane returns to the bench after a recovering from a back problem that forced his absence from the opening two pool games.
"The Italians have played some awesome rugby over the last couple of games," said skipper Ardie Savea. "So it's a great challenge for us.
"If you are not physical, it's going to be a long day. Both teams are going to try and bring their best. It's going to be good."
New Zealand finish their Group A fixtures on 5 October against Uruguay in Lyon. Italy and France play their final game in the pool on 6 October.
"Everyone is exposed to the same coaching, everyone is exposed to the same strength and conditioning as well as nutrition," Crowley added.
"Teams in the top half-a-dozen or so on their day anyone can beat each other whereas a few years ago New Zealand were pretty dominant.
"They were probably a little bit ahead of other countries in the way they approached the game. Now everyone has caught them up."
