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O'Shea makes changes for France 6 Nations clash
By Nicholas McGee
Italy coach Conor O'Shea has recalled George Biagi into the squad to face France in the Natwest 6 Nations, with Renato Giammarioli, Giovanni Licata and Giulio Bisegni also drafted in.
The Azzurri have been thumped 46-15 by England and 56-19 by Ireland in the first two matches of the tournament
O'Shea's side will look to pull off an upset in Paris a week on Friday and have opted to bring back lock Biagi and flanker Giammarioli, who both featured against England but missed the match in Dublin.
Flanker Licata last played against South Africa in November, while centre Bisegni has not made an appearance since Italy's 2017 Six Nations loss to England in February of that year.
Full-back Edoardo Padovani is still out with an ankle injury.
Italy squad:
Forwards: Luca Bigi, Dean Budd, Oliviero Fabiani, Simone Ferrari, Leonardo Ghiraldini, Andrea Lovotti, Maxime Mbanda, Sebastian Negri, Sergio Parisse (captain), Tiziano Pasquali, Nicola Quaglio, Marco Riccioni, Federico Ruzza, Abraham Steyn, Alexander Zanni.
Backs: Tomasso Allan, Mattia Bellini, Tomasso Benvenuti, Tomasso Boni, Carlo Canna, Tomasso Castello, Edoardo Gori, Jayden Hayward, Ian McKinley, Matteo Minozzi, Marcello Violi.
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I guess the other option would be to start ALB, he's looked good in the 12 so far when he starts and sets up those outside him. But that would mean putting the vice captain on the bench, which is unlikely. Another option would be to drop Reiko to the bench and play Proctor, though he's gone home so that's not going to happen either.
Both of those players just offer more of the soft distribution skills good centres learn from playing their careers there. Unfortunately that's what's lacking with the current combo.
Go to commentsWhatever let's see if this load of waffle is still valid in 2 years time. ABs will rise we have a lot of new talent coming through. The NPC was the highest standard for years. The game is changing to suit the fast pace we like to play. We get to play the Springboks more, including the franchises, which will make us better! Overall I am optimistic. I will add having watched the England game multiple times we made most of the play. England are an awesome physical team, but you can expect the All Blacks to get better and better at executing the chances. It could easily have been 5 tries to one instead of 3 to 1.
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