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Italy make three changes for Wales with Ange Capuozzo ruled out
By Josh Raisey
Italy have made three changes from the team that defeated Scotland last weekend for their Wooden Spoon decider against Wales at the Principality Stadium on Saturday in round five of the Guinness Six Nations.
Fullback Ange Capuozzo is a notable absence from the team, two years after creating Italy's match-winning try against Wales at the same venue. The Toulouse fullback broke his finger in the 31-29 win over Scotland in Rome.
Lorenzo Pani comes back into the squad to wear the No15 jersey in place of the injured Capuozzo.
There is one other change in the back line, with scrum-halves Stephen Varney and Martin Page-Relo swapping roles from last week, with the former starting in Cardiff. Page-Relo joins Leonardo Marin as one of two backs among the substitutes, as Gonzalo Quesada has opted for a 6-2 split.
No8 Lorenzo Cannone retakes his place in the starting XV, with the Exeter Chiefs' Ross Vintcent dropping to the bench. Cannone missed rounds two and three of the Championship with a knee injury, but returned to the bench last weekend.
Following a 13-13 draw with France in round three and their win over Scotland in round four, Italy head into the match with a lot of confidence, particularly when considering they won this fixture two years ago.
The Azzurri have a four-point lead over Warren Gatland's side in the standings, and a superior points difference of eleven points. That means they can still lose the match and avoid receiving the Wooden Spoon, providing they do not give Wales any bonus points and stay within eleven points.
A losing bonus point will guarantee Italy do not finish at the foot of the table, regardless of how many tries Wales score.
Italy XV
15 Lorenzo PANI (Zebre Parma, 7 caps)
14 Louis LYNAGH (Harlequins, 1 cap)
13 Juan Ignacio BREX (Benetton Rugby, 34 caps)
12 Tommaso MENONCELLO (Benetton Rugby, 16 caps)
11 Monty IOANE (Lyon29 caps)
10 Paolo GARBISI (Toulon, 35 caps)
9 Stephen VARNEY (Gloucester, 28 caps)
8 Lorenzo CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 18 caps)
7 Michele LAMARO (Benetton Rugby, 37 caps) – cap
6 Sebastian NEGRI (Benetton Rugby, 54 caps)
5 Federico RUZZA (Benetton Rugby, 53 caps)
4 Niccolò CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 40 caps)
3 Simone FERRARI (Benetton Rugby, 52 caps)
2 Giacomo NICOTERA (Benetton Rugby, 22 caps)
1 Danilo FISCHETTI (Zebre Parma, 40 caps)
Replacements
16 Gianmarco LUCCHESI (Benetton Rugby, 21 caps)
17 Mirco SPAGNOLO (Benetton Rugby, 4 caps)
18 Giosuè ZILOCCHI (Benetton Rugby, 20 caps)
19 Andrea ZAMBONIN (Zebre Parma, 7 caps)
20 Ross VINTCENT (Exeter Chiefs, 3 caps)
21 Manuel ZULIANI (Benetton Rugby, 20 caps)
22 Martin PAGE-RELO (Lyon, 7 caps)
23 Leonardo MARIN (Benetton Rugby, 8 caps)
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Latest Comments
What Savea couldn't control was the use of the bench. There were a couple of home goals from Razor. Ratima has been poor this tour, while Roigard has been an unsurprising revelation. To pull Roigard so early, or at all, was a huge error. You have to wonder if Hotham should be #2 now behind Roigard after Ratima's poor showings.
Tuipulotu should have come on much earlier when the French were starting to gain some physical momentum, perhaps the front row should have been rotated sooner too, even though the starters were fantastic.
DMac needs to go to 10 when he come's off the bench. He's clearly offered a point of difference to the attack when he's come on at flyhalf in his last two cameos, which has helped close out games. Shift BB to fullback or give him a breather.
Barrett had a good game generally, but started to lose his head towards the end, which is a habit he's struggled to kick. Two kicks in an attempt to force miracle plays are evidence of this, one ended in a French try down the other end, the other very well could have ended the same way. The first being a woeful chip while hot on attack in the French 22, the next a woeful cross-kick to a heavily marked wing inside his own 22.
It's a habit that's been the bane of Barrett's game throughout his late career. Credit to him he's bought it into check somewhat, but when the pressure's on he looses his patience and can't help himself but try to force a miracle with the boot.
DMac has been excellent at closing out games at 10 in his last 3 outings, whether we're in front or behind. He offers a different picture to the opposition defence in the last 20 or 30 minutes, and it's something teams have struggled to deal with. And something that was very much missing yesterday.
Go to commentsVery poor execution in the last 10 minutes for ENG (RSA as well to be tbh outside of the defense)
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