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O'Shea names the Italian squad of 26 he is taking with him to London
By Online Editors
Sergio Parisse is in line for an Italy recall after Conor O’Shea included him in the 26-strong squad that flies to London on Wednesday to take on England next Saturday.
There were fears that the Italian talisman might not make the cut as the concussion that ruled him out of the Italians’ round three loss to Ireland in Rome also kept him out of Stade Francais’ Top 14 match last weekend.
However, the veteran No8 appears to have made a full recovery as he has made O’Shea’s travelling party.
Instead, the eight players excluded - Oliviero Fabiani, Marco Barbini, Jake Polledri, Jimmy Tuivaiti, Callum Braley, Carlo Canna, Giulio Bisegni and Luca Sperandio - will now return to their clubs.
Italy come into the game at Twickenham on the back of 20 successive Six Nations, but their confidence is high following competitive February performances against Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
(Continue reading below...)
But for a missed kick in the game's final action, they would have secured a losing bonus point in their last outing versus the Irish.
Italy squad (v England)
Props
Simone FERRARI (Benetton Rugby, 20 caps)
Andrea LOVOTTI (Zebre Rugby Club, 32 caps) *
Tiziano PASQUALI (Benetton Rugby, 16 caps)
Marco RICCIONI (Benetton Rugby, rookie) *
Cherif TRAORE '(Benetton Rugby, 8 caps) *
Hookers
Luca BIGI (Benetton Rugby, 17 caps)
Leonardo GHIRALDINI (Stade Toulousian, 102 caps)
Second Row
Dean BUDD (Benetton Rugby, 19 caps)
Federico RUZZA (Benetton Rugby, 10 caps) *
David SISI (Zebre Rugby Club, 3 chaps)
Alessandro ZANNI (Benetton Rugby, 110 caps)
Flanker/No8
Maxime MBANDA '(Zebre Rugby Club, 16 caps) *
Sebastian NEGRI (Benetton Rugby, 14 caps)
Sergio PARISSE (Stade Francais, 136 caps) - captain
Abraham Jurgens STEYN (Benetton Rugby, 28 caps)
Scrum-half
Guglielmo PALAZZANI (Zebras Rugby Club, 30 caps)
Tito TEBALDI (Benetton Rugby, 30 caps)
Out-half
Tommaso ALLAN (Benetton Rugby, 46 caps)
Ian MCKINLEY (Benetton Rugby, 7 caps)
Centres
Michele CAMPAGNARO (Wasps, 41 caps) *
Tommaso CASTELLO (Zebre Rugby Club, 17 caps)
Luca MORISI (Benetton Rugby, 23 caps) *
Marco ZANON (Benetton Rugby, rookie) *
Back three
Angelo ESPOSITO (Benetton Rugby, 18 caps)
Jayden HAYWARD (Benetton Rugby, 15 caps)
Edoardo PADOVANI (Zebre Rugby Club, 18 caps) *
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Even with absences we still had the cattle to make the playoffs. As it was, we nearly stumbled our way into the top 8. Which shows just how easy it was to get there. And still we failed. As for Razor, there are many instances of him patching up the Crusaders roster. Numerous. Several players I'd never heard of. Also, using AB legend John Afoa was a classic.
But, some of the games we were losing were from schoolboy errors, or downright confusion. Either the players were really dumb (they weren’t) or they were poorly coached. Given the repetitive nature of errors, brain fades, poor decision making, & loose structures, this all lands with the coaching group.
With only six playoff spots now in SR, & Aussie franchises now consolidated to four, 2025 looks like a tight one. I'm picking we'll have to tough it out under Penney & hope for the best.
Go to commentsAgree we need a 10, 12, 13 refresh. ASAP. Well, next season now lol. Reiko should be put back on the wing. He'll be an absolute menace there. Imagine 11 Reiko 14 Clarke 15 Jordan as the backfield unit.
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