Parisse to equal O'Driscoll record
Sergio Parisse will equal Brian O'Driscoll's appearance record for the Five and Six Nations when he leads out Italy against Scotland in Rome on Saturday.
The inspirational number eight is set for his 65th outing in the championship, drawing him level with Ireland's iconic former centre.
Head coach Conor O'Shea has made only one change to his starting XV from the side that went down 38-14 in Wales last weekend, with Gloucester flanker Jake Polledri set for his international debut. The injured Maxime Mbanda is the man to make way.
The Azzurri have endured another disappointing campaign and are already destined to take home the wooden spoon after four defeats from four and not so much as a losing bonus point to their name heading into the final fixture.
Italy team: Matteo Minozzi, Tommaso Benvenuti, Giulio Bisegni, Tommaso Castello, Mattia Bellini, Tommaso Allan, Marcello Violi; Andrea Lovotti, Leonardo Ghiraldini, Simone Ferrari, Alessandro Zanni, Dean Budd, Sebastian Negri, Jake Polledri, Sergio Parisse (c).
Substitutes: Oliviero Fabiani, Nicola Quaglio, Tiziano Pasquali, Abraham Steyn, Giovanni Licata, Guglielmo Palazzani, Carlo Canna, Jayden Hayward.
Latest Comments
Thanks Nick. Surely they will thump Japan this week and the pressure will be off. Do you want to make a prediction that the defence coach will go before the Six Nations? England seem to want Borthwick there for a long time so surely they will back Bortho and look for a new defence coach?
Go to commentsYes, Carlos, I sensed before hand this would be a very close game, even could see an Arg. win....well, they have beaten all their three SH compatriots this year, then added Italy. And as nick says below, they were winners of the breakdown for a lot of the game, and both sides of the ball too.
Felipe very highly regarded in Ireland, esp. Leinster.
Good luck this weekend !
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