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Italy change eight for their first match since ambushing Wales
By Liam Heagney
Kieran Crowley has made eight changes to his starting Italy XV for their first Test match since their shock Guinness Six Nations win over Wales in March. It’s 14 weeks now since young Ange Capuozzo sprinted clear to put Edoardo Padovani over for the winning converted try in a match in Cardiff that dramatically ended 22-21 in favour of the Azzurri.
That was the first win for Italy in the championship in 36 matches, a barren run stretching back to 2015, and it greatly encouraged Crowley whose next team-building event takes place on Saturday when they take on Portugal in Lisbon.
Eight changes have been made to the side that defeated Wales, five in the pack. Hame Faiva is back in the mix as the starting hooker following his red card versus Ireland, taking over from Giacomo Nicotera, while Simone Ferrari is at tighthead in place of Pietro Ceccarelli.
The one-cap Andrea Zambonin and David Sisi are at lock, with Marco Fuser and Federico Ruzza stepping down, while Renato Giammarioli is at No8 in place of Toa Halafihi. Out the back, there is a fresh half-back pairing in the debut-making out-half Giacomo da Re and scrum-half Alessandro Fusco, who is making his first start after six previous caps off the bench.
This duo will fill in for the internationally-retired Callum Braley and Paolo Garbisi, who is busy with Top 14 finalists Montpellier and their Friday night decider versus Castres in Paris. Elsewhere, four of the five other backs from the Principality win are the same, the only alteration being Jacopo Trulla called up to start on the right wing with Padovani switching to the left in the absence of Monty Ioane.
“This summer tour is a very important stage in our growth path,” said Crowley, who includes two more uncapped players on the bench for a match that is the first in a three-game tour that also features fixtures away to Romania and Georgia. “We tackle all the commitments on the calendar step by step, focusing on our next opponents. We have worked well and by playing our best rugby we can achieve good results.”
ITALY (vs Portugal, Saturday)
15. Ange CAPUOZZO (Grenoble, 2 caps)
14. Jacopo TRULLA (Zebre Parma, 7 caps)
13. Juan Ignacio BREX (Benetton Rugby, 13 caps)
12. Leonardo MARIN (Benetton Rugby, 5 caps)
11. Edoardo PADOVANI (Benetton Rugby, 35 caps)
10. Giacomo DA RE (FEMI-CZ Rovigo/Benetton Rugby, uncapped)
9. Alessandro FUSCO (Fiamme Oro Rugby/Zebre Parma, 6 caps)
8. Renato GIAMMARIOLI (Zebre Parma, 5 caps)
7. Michele LAMARO (Benetton Rugby, 15 caps) – capt
6. Giovanni PETTINELLI (Benetton Rugby, 6 caps)
5. Andrea ZAMBONIN (Zebre Parma, 1 cap)
4. David SISI (Zebre Parma, 21 caps)
3. Simone FERRARI (Benetton Rugby, 34 caps)
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I’m all for speeding up the game. But can we be certain that the slowness of the game contributed to fans walking out? I’m not so sure. Super rugby largely suffered from most fans only being able to, really, follow the games played in their own time zone. So at least a third of the fan base wasn’t engaged at any point in time. As a Saffer following SA teams in the URC - I now watch virtually every European game played on the weekend. In SR, I wouldn’t be bothered to follow the games being played on the other side of the world, at weird hours, if my team wasn’t playing. I now follow the whole tournament and not just the games in my time zone. Second, with New Zealand teams always winning. It’s like formula one. When one team dominates, people lose interest. After COVID, with SA leaving and Australia dipping in form, SR became an even greater one horse race. Thats why I think Japan’s league needs to get in the mix. The international flavor of those teams could make for a great spectacle. But surely if we believe that shaving seconds off lost time events in rugby is going to draw fans back, we should be shown some figures that supports this idea before we draw any major conclusions. Where are the stats that shows these changes have made that sort of impact? We’ve measured down to the average no. Of seconds per game. Where the measurement of the impact on the fanbase? Does a rugby “fan” who lost interest because of ball in play time suddenly have a revived interest because we’ve saved or brought back into play a matter of seconds or a few minutes each game? I doubt it. I don’t thinks it’s even a noticeable difference to be impactful. The 20 min red card idea. Agreed. Let’s give it a go. But I think it’s fairer that the player sent off is substituted and plays no further part in the game as a consequence.
Go to commentsThose are pretty good draws for the two top Aussie teams. I certainly wouldn't want my Chiefs to have a quarter final in Brisbane. None of the top teams will want the Crusaders.
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