Italy look to bounce back from Bok hammering with 5 changes for Pumas

Gonzalo Quesada has made five changes to Italy’s starting XV for Saturday’s Nations Championship clash with Argentina in Genoa following last weekend’s 66-7 defeat to South Africa.

Tommaso Allan returns at full-back in one of the headline changes, joining Ange Capuozzo and Monty Ioane in the back three, while Paolo Odogwu and Leonardo Marin continue together in midfield.

Stephen Varney replaces Alessandro Fusco at scrum-half alongside Paolo Garbisi, while the pack has also been reshuffled. Danilo Fischetti returns at loosehead, with captain Giacomo Nicotera and Simone Ferrari completing the front row.

Ross Vintcent and Manuel Zuliani come into the back-row alongside Lorenzo Cannone, while Federico Ruzza and Niccolò Cannone remain together in the second-row.

Quesada has also handed Federico Mori a place on the bench, bringing the Bayonne back into an Italy matchday squad for the first time in more than two years. Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi, who featured from the bench against the Springboks, is retained among the replacements.

Italy were blown away in Turin, trailing 45-0 at half-time before eventually falling to a nine-try defeat, although they did manage to make the second period more competitive.

The Azzurri now face an Argentina side in the fifth round of the Nations Championship before completing the regular phase against Fiji in Udine next weekend.

This is the 25th meeting between Italy and Argentina, and their 13th in Italy.

Italy XV: 15 Tommaso Allan, 14 Ange Capuozzo, 13 Paolo Odogwu, 12 Leonardo Marin, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Stephen Varney; 1 Danilo Fischetti, 2 Giacomo Nicotera (c), 3 Simone Ferrari, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 5 Federico Ruzza, 6 Ross Vintcent, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 8 Lorenzo Cannone.

Replacements: 16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Muhamed Hasa, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi, 20 Alessandro Ortombina, 21 Samuele Locatelli, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Federico Mori.