Senior International Matches (Men)

Sat 4th October 2025   - KO  15:00 - Lidcombe Oval, Sydney , Australia
Official: Liam Richardson (Australia)

Italy

16

FT

14

Half Time
4 - 8

Lebanon

Tries

Jack Piccirilli (21)
Jackson Lenzo (50,68)

Mohamed Alameddine (7)
Jonathon Ibrahim (35)
Bilal El Youssef (65)

Goals

Jack Piccirilli (2/4)

Jonathon Ibrahim (0/2)
Daniel Ahmed Arahu (1/1)

Match Preview: Italy and Lebanon name men's squads for Saturday 4th October

Lebanon officials are hoping to unearth some new talent for next year's IRL Rugby League World Cup 2026 when a youthful Cedars side takes on Italy at Lidcombe Oval, Sydney on Saturday, October 4 (kick off 3pm local team).

The match is part of a double header with the Lebanon and Italy women’s sides taking the field at 1pm.

Cedars coach Mick Habib, who will be assisted by Tyrone McCarthy, Tony Bazouni, Sean Tabet and Richmond Saliba, said: “I have been involved with Lebanon since 2017 and we have unearthed some talented players who have gone on and represented Lebanon in the last World Cup. This group of players have been no different, great men and a pleasure to coach. We know that this group will wear the jersey with pride, and hopefully we can see someone from this team make their way into the World Cup Squad for next year”.

Italy’s men could hand out up to 12 debuts, with head coach Leo Epifania keen to look at the next generation of talent available. “I am sure the match should be a tough encounter with both sides determined to represent their heritage best they can. There is enough up and coming talent to make this a great game,” he said.

Italy
James Borges (Blacktown Workers Rugby League Club), Massimo Mari (Bondi United), Damon Potts (Camden Rams), Jack Piccirilli (Dapto Canaries RLFC), Marco Moretti (Glebe Dirty Reds), Luke Wakefield (Hills Bulls), Nick Lenaz (North Queensland Cowboys), Adrian Yenco (Marconi Stallions), Bryce Magnone (Shellharbour Sharks RLFC), Joel Saldeneri  (St Marys Saints), Vince Romeo (Thirlmere Tahmoor Roosters), George Stamatatos (Ryde Eastwood RLFC), Aaron Carbonaro, Jayden Carbonaro (Warringah Rugby Club), Zachary Farrugia (Wentworthville Magpies), Jackson Lenzo (Western Clydesdales), Lenny Plati (Wests Tigers), Dominic Biondi (Wynnum Manly Seagulls), Noah De Molan (Young Cherrypickers RLFC).

Lebanon
Ibrahim El Cheikh, Ibrahim El Labban (Blacktown Workers), Moustafa Dirani (Cronulla Sharks), Daniel Ahmed Arahu (Glebe), Mikael Ibrahim (Gold Coast Titans), Joshua Maree, Kade Moujalli (Hills District), Jonathan Ibrahim, Hussen Said (Manly Sea Eagles), AJ El-Ters, Mohamed Hadid, Ayman Maarbani (Moorebank), Mohamed Alameddine (Parramatta Eels), Bilal El-Youseff (Ryde Eastwood), Zachariah Nachar, Xavier Ndaira (St George Illawarra Dragons), James Khoo (Sydney Roosters), Yeyha Ayache (South Sydney Rabbitohs), Elias Abou-Mrad (Wentworthville).

2 October 2025
1 Piccirilli
Full Back
Nachar 1
5 Lenzo
Right Wing
Alameddine 2
3 Carbonaro
Right Centre
Maarbani 3
4 Stamatatos
Left Centre
Abou Mrad 4
2 Potts
Left Wing
El Youssef 5
6 Borges
Stand Off
Ibrahim 6
7 Saldeneri
Scrum Half
Moujalli 7
24 Carbonaro
Prop
Ahmed Arahu 8
9 Lenaz
Hooker
Ayache 9
10 Biondi
Prop
El Chiekh 10
11 Mari
Second Row
Ibrahim 11
12 Plati
Second Row
Maree 12
13 Moretti
Loose Forward
Dirani 13
14 Farrugia
Int 1
Ndaira 14
15 Wakefield
Int 2
El Labban 15
20 Severino
Int 3
El Ters 16
17 De Molan
Int 4
Khoo 17
8 Romeo
Reserve 1
Said 18
Match Report: Italy Men Record Narrow 16-14 Win Over Lebanon

In the men’s match that followed, Italy found a winning score ten minutes from time to defeat the Ceders 16-14. Fullback Jack Piccirilli – who had opened the scoring for the Italians - converted Jackson Lenzo’s second try to claim the victory after Lebanon had led 8-4 at the break.

Bilal El Youssef put Lebanon back in the lead after Lenzo had posted his opening score, Lenzo responding immediately for the winner in a tight encounter. Italy men’s coach, Leo Epifania, noted: “It could have gone either way, but we stuck together and found a way to win. Lebanon challenged us to the end, and we’ve built up a good rivalry.”

Lebanon head coach, Michael Habib, said: “We were a little unlucky losing our half-back Kade Moujalli after four minutes to an ankle injury, and backrower Josh Maree soon after with a shoulder problem. We made too many handling errors and incompletions, but to our credit we were still in the game in the final moments.”

4 October 2025