Italy coach Kieran Crowley has drafted
in Tommaso Allan at fullback to replace his injured star player
Ange Capuozzo for Saturday's Six Nations match against Wales in
Rome.
Capuozzo, world rugby's 2022 breakthrough player whose stunning
run set up the trial that enabled the Azzurri to beat Wales in
Cardiff last year and end a seven-year losing run in the
competition, will miss the rest of the tournament with a
shoulder problem.
Otherwise, Crowley is sticking with the starting XV that pushed
Ireland hard two weeks ago before going down 34-20 to the
world's top-ranked team.
Allan, who usually plays at flyhalf, will pick up his 70th cap.
Italy and Wales have both lost their first three games so
Saturday's match looks set to be showdown to see who will dodge
the tournament's booby prize, the wooden spoon.
Italy:
15 Tommaso ALLAN (Harlequins, 69 caps)
14 Edoardo PADOVANI (Benetton Rugby, 43 caps)
13 Juan Ignacio BREX (Benetton Rugby, 21 caps)
12 Tommaso MENONCELLO (Benetton Rugby, 9 caps)
11 Pierre BRUNO (Zebre Parma, 10 caps)
10 Paolo GARBISI (Montpellier, 22 caps)
9 Stephen VARNEY (Gloucester Rugby, 19 caps)
8 Lorenzo CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 6 caps)
7 Michele LAMARO (Benetton Rugby, 24 caps) - captain
6 Sebastian NEGRI (Benetton Rugby, 43 caps)
5 Federico RUZZA (Benetton Rugby, 39 caps)
4 Niccolò CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 28 caps)
3 Simone FERRARI (Benetton Rugby, 43 caps)
2 Giacomo NICOTERA (Benetton Rugby, 10 caps)
1 Danilo FISCHETTI (London Irish, 28 caps).
Replacements:
16 Luca BIGI (Zebre Parma 45 caps)
17 Federico ZANI (Benetton Rugby, 19 caps)
18 Marco RICCIONI (Saracens Rugby, 19 caps)
19 Edoardo IACHIZZI (Vannes, 3 caps)
20 Giovanni PETTINELLI (Benetton Rugby, 10 caps)
21 Manuel ZULIANI (Benetton Rugby, 8 caps)
22 Alessandro FUSCO (Zebre Parma, 8 caps)
23 Luca MORISI (London Irish, 42 caps).
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