Northern Edition
Select Edition
Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Italy make one team change and alter bench split to face Wales

(Photo by Danilo Di Giovanni/Getty Images)

Italy boss Kieran Crowley has made one enforced change to his starting team to host Wales this Saturday in Rome following their Guinness Six Nations round three defeat to Ireland. The Azzurri lost out 20-34 at Stadio Olimpico in a very entertaining match and the head coach has kept his changes to a minimum for what is this weekend billed as the wooden spoon decider.

ADVERTISEMENT

Both the Italians and the Welsh have lost all three matches so far and Crowley has been forced to make one backline change. Injured versus Ireland, Ange Capuozzo will miss the remainder of the championship and his position as the Italy full-back will be taken by Tommaso Allan.

It will be Allan’s 70th Test appearance. He started the championship at out-half in the opening rounds before dropping to the bench when Paolo Garbisi pitched up fit to face the Irish. The only other Italy alternation comes on the bench where Crowley has reconfigured his forwards/backs split.

Against Ireland, the Italy team went with a five/three forwards/backs split but against Wales the will go in with a six/two split as back-rower Manuel Zuliani has been named as an additional pack replacement, taking over the spot that Allan filled on the bench the last day.

“We recovered well from the last game and this week we worked on the areas where we needed to improve. We know the challenge ahead against Wales and we are looking forward to playing. Hopefully we can continue to develop the way we want to play,” said Crowley.

Italy team (vs Wales, Saturday – 2:15pm)
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. Niccolo 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)

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo vs Kubota Spears | Japan Rugby League One 2024/25 Final | Full Match Replay

Saitama Wild Knights vs Kobe Steelers | Japan Rugby League One 2024/25 Bronze Final | Full Match Replay

Boks Office | Episode 42 | Investec Champions Cup Final Review

Spain's Incredible Rugby Sevens Journey to the World Championship Final | HSBC SVNS Embedded | Episode 14

Australia vs USA | Pacific Four Series 2025 | Full Match Replay

New Zealand vs Canada | Pacific Four Series 2025 | Full Match Replay

South Africa vs New Zealand | The Rugby Championship U20's | Full Match Replay

The Game that Made Jonah Lomu

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

S
SK 2 hours ago
Broken hand or not, Richie Mo'unga is still New Zealand's best 10

Probably the best 10 in the world right now and his talents are confined to League one in Japan. What a shame. Would be a pleasure to see him play week in and week out for bigger teams especially the All Blacks. The fact that he is committed to League one for another year along with Frizzell is a clear indication of how happy these 2 are in Japan and is something for the AB’s to consider seriously. These players play fewer games per year than most players, have more time off and they are highly respected by the Japanese in the set up. The salaries are also great so its easy to see why so many SA, Aus and NZ players now call League One home. The AB’s have now for too long discarded players before their sell by date. This is especially true for players over 30 and players who leave the set up. This history of discarding players means that anyone that goes on Sabbatical or leaves now is seen as expendable and will have to come back and fight for their place. I was shocked when comments emerged from NZ that Jordie Barrett needs to come back and prove himself again especially as there are performers in Super Rugby stepping up. He has nothing to prove to anyone as he proves time and time again that he is world class whether in a Leinster Jersey or Hurricanes one. Also no new Super Rugby newbie will be able to replace the experience Barrett has at the international level so any talk of that is folly. Its the same with Richie Mo'unga and Frizell. You can understand why the AB’s keep the eligibility rules in place but lets be honest, the days of thinking that there is a ready made replacement ready to step up are gone so the pundits in NZ need to stop acting like many of their best are easily replaced. The gap between Super Rugby and international rugby has grown. Its time the AB’s face up to that reality or face up to the new reality of more sub par 70% win rate years.

48 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Only two Lions make Gallagher Premiership team of the season Only two Lions make Gallagher Premiership team of the season
Search