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O'Shea makes two changes to Italy team to face Wales


Italy lost for the 18th time in a row in the Six Nations last weekend
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Conor O’Shea has made two changes as struggling Italy look to end an 18-match losing streak in the Six Nations.

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The Italians opened their latest campaign with a 33-20 defeat to Scotland in Edinburgh last weekend and O’Shea, still searching for his first win in this third championship in charge, has made some alterations as they prepare to host Wales on Saturday in Rome.

Edoardo Padovani, a try-scoring replacement at Murrayfield, comes into the backline and Nicola Quaglio into the front row. Padovani’s inclusion on the right wing sees Michele Campagnaro shifted into the centre, with Tommaso Castello dropping out of the match day 23. Quaglio, meanwhile, gets his chance at loosehead prop as Andrea Lovotti has the flu.

Italy fell 33-3 behind Scotland before generating a late three-try rally which convinced O’Shea not to make wholesale changes to his team.

It means Quaglio joins Simone Ferrari and Leonardo Ghiraldini in the front row while Dean Budd and David Sisi remain in the second row. Sergio Parisse will captain again from No8 with Abraham Steyn and Sebastian Negri either side.

Another opening round try-scorer, Guglielmo Palazzani, keeps his spot at scrum-half, Tommaso Allan remains at out-half, Campagnaro and Luca Morisi make up the midfield, with the promoted Padovani joining Jayden Hayward and Angelo Esposito in the back three.

Continue reading below…

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In the replacements, Edoardo Gori comes onto the bench as scrum-half cover while Marco Barbini is another new sub for the front row.

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The Azzurri are facing a much-changed Wales team. Their coach, Warren Gatland, opted to make 10 alterations to the side came from 16 points down to beat France in their opening match in Paris.

ITALY (v Wales, Saturday)

15 Jayden HAYWARD (Benetton Rugby, 13caps)
14 Edoardo PADOVANI (Zebre Rugby Club, 16caps)
13 Michele CAMPAGNARO (Wasps, 39 caps)
12 Luca MORISI (Benetton Rugby, 21 caps)
11 EXPOSED Angel (Benetton Rugby, 16caps)
10 Tommaso ALLAN (Benetton Rugby, 44 caps)
9 Guglielmo PALAZZANI (Zebras Rugby Club, 29 caps)
8 Sergio PARISSE (Stade Francais, 135caps) – captain
7 Abraham Jurgens STEYN (Benetton Rugby, 26caps)
6 Sebastian NEGRI (Benetton Rugby, 13 caps)
5 Dean BUDD (Benetton Rugby, 17 caps)
4 David SISI (Zebre Rugby Club, 1 cap)
3 Simone FERRARI (Benetton Rugby, 18caps)
2 Leonardo GHIRALDINI (Stade Toulousian, 100 caps)
1 Nicola QUAGLIO (Benetton Rugby, 8 caps)

REPLACEMENTS:

16 Luca BIGI (Benetton Rugby, 16 caps)
17 Cherif TRAORE ‘(Benetton Rugby, 6caps)
18 Tiziano PASQUALI (Benetton Rugby, 14caps)
19 Federico RUZZA (Benetton Rugby, 8 caps)
20 Marco BARBINI (Benetton Rugby, 2 caps)
21 Edoardo GORI (Benetton Rugby, 68 caps)
22 Ian MCKINLEY (Benetton Rugby, 5 caps)
23 Tommaso BENVENUTI (Benetton Rugby, 56caps)

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NoLongerARuck 1 hour ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

The Six Nations produced so many compelling games and so much of action packed moments that you can only conclude that its the best international comp out there at the moment except for a world cup. If Wales improve it will be even better especially given the strides Italy have made in recent times. The Rugby Championship is now taking a hiatus in a year it really should be building toward something better which is terrible considering the competition was so tight last year. The Nations Champs promises much but one gets the feeling that the 6 Nations teams will not be at their peak given its at the end of their long season. In terms of rugby quality and entertainment Id rather watch the 6 Nations over everything else other than a world cup right now. The North arguably offers more in terms of entertainment than the South at club level as well. The Prem, the Champs Cup, URC and Top 14 all feature plenty of scoring and different playing styles while Super Rugby seems to be the same thing game in game out. While the South tries to speed up the game artificially with new trials and law variations the North has shown you can do it with good refereeing which penalises cynical play harshly and encourages positive actions on the field. In terms of entertainment the North wins. In terms of winning? They are making strides but until they win another world cup or get a team to rank number 1 again for an extended time again they cant really say they are better than the South.

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