Italy make five changes looking to bounce back in upset

Italy head coach Kieran Crowley has made several changes to the side that was demolished by New Zealand in hopes of securing an upset against France this weekend.

Michele Lamaro leads the Azzurri from the side of the scrum and is joined by Sebastian Negri and number eight Lorenzo Cannone in the back-row.

In the tight five, Federico Ruzza and Niccole Cannone make up the second-row pairing, whilst front-rowers Simone Ferrari, Pietro Ceccarelli and hooker Hame Faiva all start against the Rugby World Cup hosts.

Double playmaker

Scrum-half Stephen Varney starts alongside Tommaso Allan, who leads the goal-kicking stats at the tournament with a flawless performance from the tee so far.

The creative superstar Paolo Garbisi starts at 12 in a second playmaker role with the quality Juan Ignacio Brex outside him.

Key man Ange Capuozzo wears 15 against France with the dangerous duo of Pierre Bruno and Monty Ioane on the wings for the Test.

On the pine, Marco Manfredi, Federico Zani and Marco Riccioni make up the front-row options, with David Sisi and Manuel Zuliani as the other forwards on the bench.

Scrum-half Alessandro Fusco is joined by Luca Morisi and young star Lorenzo Pani as backline substitutions.

Permutations
The clash has several permutations; firstly, one point in this one will secure the third spot for Italy and automatic qualification for the 2027 Rugby World Cup. Secondly, if the Italians claimed a bonus point win over France, they could qualify ahead of the hosts, provided Les Bleus do not get two points from the game (with four tries and losing within seven).

Match Day 23

Italy: 15 Ange Capuozzo, 14 Pierre Bruno, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Paolo Garbisi, 11 Montanna Ioane, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 3 Pietro Ceccarelli, 2 Hame Faiva, 1 Simone Ferrari
Replacements: 16 Marco Manfredi, 17 Federico Zani, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 David Sisi, 20 Manuel Zuliani, 21 Alessandro Fusco, 22 Luca Morisi, 23 Lorenzo Pani

Date: Friday, October 6
Venue: Parc OL, Lyon
Referee: Karl Dickson (RFU)
Assistant Referees: Luke Pearce (RFU), Craig Evans (WRU)
TMO: Marius Jonker (SARU)