Gonzalo Quesada, coach of the Italian National Men's Rugby Team, has announced the line-up that will face Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Sunday 11 February.
It will be match number 37 between the two teams, the nineteenth in Ireland. Match entrusted to the Englishman Luke Pearce - who took over on the referee panel for the match - who will reach match direction number 50 at an international level.
Four changes in the starting XV compared to the team that played against England at the Olympic Stadium in Rome on the first day of the tournament. Ange Capuozzo returns to the extended triangle – in the pits due to gastroenteritis in the last round – with the number 15 shirt with Pani and Ioane confirmed as wingers. Brex and Menoncello will be the center pair, while Stephen Varney will find space in the control room together with Paolo Garbisi from the first minute.
In the back row, captain Lamaro will wear the number 8 shirt with Zuliani and Izekor - the latter making his first start - completing the unit. Ruzza and Niccolò Cannone are the second rowers, while Ceccarelli, Lucchesi and Fischetti will find space on the front line.
On the bench ready to take over - together with the debutant Ross Vintcent - Nicotera, Spagnolo, Zilocchi, Zambonin, Page-Relo, Mori and Allan.
Together with the players on the match list, Rizzoli, Manfredi, Nocera, Favretto and Alessandro Garbisi will also leave for Dublin.
“In Dublin the focus will be on our performance and trying to take a new step in our growth against one of the strongest teams in the world. We will be missing two elements in the forward department compared to the previous match, but we have a young group at our disposal who want to emerge.
A tough match awaits us and it will be essential to be able to stay clear throughout the match” said Italy coach Gonzalo Quesada.
This is the team that will take the field:
15 Ange CAPUOZZO (Stade Toulousain, 16 caps)
14 Lorenzo PANI (Zebre Parma, 6 caps)
13 Juan Ignacio BREX (Benetton Rugby, 31 caps)
12 Tommaso MENONCELLO (Benetton Rugby, 13 caps)
11 Monty IOANE (Lyon 26 caps)
10 Paolo GARBISI (Montpellier, 32 caps)
9 Stephen VARNEY (Gloucester, 25 caps)
8 Michele LAMARO (Benetton Rugby, 34 caps) – cap
7 Manuel ZULIANI (Benetton Rugby, 18 caps)
6 Alessandro IZEKOR (Benetton Rugby, 1 cap)
5 Federico RUZZA (Benetton Rugby, 50 caps)
4 Niccolò CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 37 caps
3 Pietro CECCARELLI (Perpignan, 32 caps)
2 Gianmarco LUCCHESI (Benetton Rugby, 18 caps)
1 Danilo FISCHETTI (Zebre Parma, 37 caps)
Bench
16 Giacomo NICOTERA (Benetton Rugby, 19 caps)
17 Mirco SPAGNOLO (Benetton Rugby, 1 cap)
18 Giosuè ZILOCCHI (Benetton Rugby, 17 caps)19
Andrea ZAMBONIN (Zebre Parma, 4 caps)
20 Ross VINTCENT (Exeter, debutant )
21 Martin PAGE-RELO (Lyon, 4 caps)
22 Tommaso ALLAN (Perpignan, 80 caps)
23 Federico MORI (Bayonne, 14 caps)
