Italy forced into one crucial change for Ireland challenge

Italy head coach Gonzalo Quesada has unsurprisingly chosen to make no enforced changes to his starting team for their Guinness Six Nations round two clash with Ireland in Dublin on Saturday, with Lorenzo Pani being the only new name in the starting XV.

Having tactically and physically outclassed Scotland at the Stadio Olimpico in round one, Quesada has been reluctant to make any changes, even at the expense of fit-again star Ange Capuozzo, who missed the match against Scotland as he recovered from a broken finger. The Toulouse star has failed to make the squad at all as Italy have stuck with a winning formula as they look for their first win on Irish soil.

After outside centre Juan Ignacio Brex was forced to withdraw this week for personal reasons, Pani has been promoted from the bench to the starting XV for the match at the Aviva Stadium.

This change has caused a backline reshuffle for the Azzurri, with last week’s full-back Leonardo Marin shifting to inside centre to accommodate Pani. Brex’s usual centre partner, Tommaso Menoncello, will also slide to outside centre.

Pani’s promotion from the bench to the starting XV has opened the door for Paolo Odogwu to join the replacements. The one other change on the bench will see 23-year-old flanker David Odiase take fly-half Giacomo Da Re’s place, as Quesada has shifted from a 5-3 split to a 6-2 split.

Fixture

Six Nations

Ireland

06:10

14 Feb 26

Italy

All Stats and Data

Italy XV
15 Lorenzo Pani
14 Louis Lynagh
13 Tommaso Menoncello
12 Leonardo Marin
11 Monty Ioane
10 Paolo Garbisi
9 Alessandro Fusco
1 Danilo Fischetti
2 Giacomo Nicotera
3 Simone Ferrari
4 Niccolò Cannone
5 Andrea Zambonin
6 Michele Lamaro (c)
7 Manuel Zuliani
8 Lorenzo Cannone

Replacements
16 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo
17 Mirco Spagnolo
18 Muhamed Hasa
19 Federico Ruzza
20 Riccardo Favretto
21 David Odias
22 Alessandro Garbisi
23 Paolo Odogwu