Italy tweak victorious XV with two changes for France visit

Italy have made two changes from the XV that were victorious over Wales in round two of the Guinness Six Nations for the visit from France on Sunday to Rome's Stadio Olimpico.
Head coach Gonzalo Quesada has been forced into one change, with winger Simone Gesi, who featured from the bench against Scotland, replacing the injured Monty Ioane on the wing.
The second change is a swap between hookers Gianmarco Lucchesi and Giacomo Nicotera, with the former starting on this occasion having previously been on the bench.
The previously banned Mirco Spagnolo has returned to take his place as the replacement loosehead, with tighthead Giosuè Zilocchi and lock Riccardo Favretto being the other two changes among the substitutes.
The two sides head into the Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy contest with one win and one loss to their names. The hosts will be looking to back up their 22-15 win over Wales, while Les Bleus will be looking to bounce back from a 26-25 loss to England at Twickenham's Allianz Stadium.
The match will also been a significant occasion for lock Niccolò Cannone and loosehead Danilo Fischetti, who will both be earning their 50th caps.
Italy XV
15 Tommaso Allan (USA Perpignan, 83 caps)
14 Ange Capuozzo (Stade Toulousain, 25 caps)
13 Juan Ignacio Brex (Benetton Rugby, 43 caps)
12 Tommaso Menoncello (Benetton Rugby, 25 caps)
11 Simone Gesi (Zebre Parma, 2 caps)
10 Paolo Garbisi (Toulon RC, 44 caps)
9 Martin Page-Relo (Lyon Olympique, 15 caps)
8 Lorenzo Cannone (Benetton Rugby, 25 caps)
7 Michele Lamaro (Benetton Rugby, 45 caps) – captain
6 Sebastian Negri (Benetton Rugby, 60 caps)
5 Federico Ruzza (Benetton Rugby, 61 caps)
4 Niccolò Cannone (Benetton Rugby, 49 caps)
3 Simone Ferrari (Benetton Rugby, 61 caps)
2 Gianmarco Lucchesi (Toulon RC, 30 caps)
1 Danilo Fischetti (Zebre Parma, 49 caps)
Replacements
16 Giacomo Nicotera (Stade Francais, 30 caps)
17 Mirco Spagnolo (Benetton Rugby, 11 caps)
18 Giosuè Zilocchi (Benetton Rugby, 22 caps)
19 Riccardo Favretto (Benetton Rugby, 4 caps)
20 Manuel Zuliani (Benetton Rugby, 29 caps)
21 Ross Vintcent (Exeter Chiefs, 11 caps)
22 Alessandro Garbisi (Benetton Rugby, 15 caps)
23 Jacopo Trulla (Zebre Parma, 13 caps)
Latest Comments
Sharks players not accurate but a far bigger problem is the useless coaching set up. Tactically so naive. Running the ball from all quarters against a rush defence in humid conditions is just dumb. Simon Zebo said yesterday that if Rassie Erasmus coached the Sharks they would be the best team in Europe. They have a huge talent pool but terrible coaches.
Leinster were quite brilliant - especially on defence. They remind me very much of the 2019 Boks - kick, chase, defend like demons, force opponents into mistakes and strike off turnover ball. Will be intriguing to see how they go the rest of the season, especially against the French giants in the Champions Cup. They have the best defence in Europe but has that come at the expense of a cutting edge on attack? Having a Nienaber-esque defensive mindset against Toulouse and Bordeaux Begles won’t work.
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