Italy coach Gonzalo Quesada has made
four changes to his starting line-up for Sunday's Six Nations
clash against Ireland in Dublin with respect to the side that
pushed England hard in a 27-24 defeat in Rome last week.
Danger man Ange Capuozzo returns at fullback after missing the
opening match of the tournament due to a stomach bug, with
Tommaso Allen dropping to the bench.
Stephen Varney comes in at scrumhalf to renew his partnership
with flyhalf Paolo Garbisi.
Last week Garbisi formed a half-back pairing with his younger
brother Alessandro, who does not feature in the match-day squad
but will make the trip to Dublin anyway to act as cover.
Quesada has been forced to make two changes to his backrow due
to injuries to Sebastian Negri and Lorenzo Cannone.
So captain Michele Lamaro, who usually plays open-side flanker,
will start at number eight, with Manuel Zuliani and Alessandro
Izekor taking the empty slots.
"The focus in Dublin will be on our performance and trying to
take another step in our growth against one of the strongest
teams in the world," said Quesada.
"We will be missing two elements in the forwards with respect to
the previous match, but we have a young squad at our disposal
who want to emerge.
"A tough match awaits us and it will be essential to be able to
stay lucid throughout the match".
Italy: Ange Capuozzo; Lorenzo Pani, Juan Ignacio Brex, Tommaso
Menoncello, Monty Ioane; Paolo Garbisi, Stephen Varney; Michele
Lamaro (captain), Manuel Zuliani, Alessandro Izekor; Federico
Ruzza, Niccolo Cannone; Pietro Ceccarelli, Gianmarco Lucchesi,
Danilo Fischetti.
Replacements: Giacomo Nicotera, Mirco Spagnolo, Giosue Zilocchi,
Andrea Zambonin, Ross Vintcent, Martin Page-Relo, Tommaso Allan,
Federico Mori.
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