Gonzalo Quesada has made just one change to his starting XV for Sunday’s Six Nations showdown against France – and it’s a big one.
Electric outside back Ange Capuozzo returns from injury to add spark to an Azzurri side desperate to rediscover momentum.
Capuozzo missed Italy’s opening two matches after injuring a finger while playing for Toulouse against La Rochelle in December. He resumed training last week but was not included in the squad that went down 20-13 to Ireland in Dublin.
Now he’s back and straight into the No 15 jersey.
The 26-year-old sits 10th on Italy’s all-time try-scoring list with 16 tries in 31 Tests. Although most commonly deployed on the wing, Capuozzo is more than comfortable at fullback and replaces Lorenzo Pani, who made his first Azzurri start in nearly two years against Ireland.
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With Louis Lynagh – son of Wallabies great Michael Lynagh – and Australian Monty Ioane both in strong form out wide, Quesada has opted to inject Capuozzo’s counter-attacking threat from the back.
Italy remain without Argentinian centre Juan Ignacio Brex, who featured in their opening 18-15 win over Scotland but has been unavailable since for family reasons.
There are also tweaks on the bench. Hooker Pablo Dimcheff is set to make his Six Nations debut, while prop Giosue Zilocchi returns to the match 23. If called upon, lock Federico Ruzza will earn his 70th cap.
TEAM: France beef up pack for Italy clash
ITALY – 15 Ange Capuozzo, 14 Monty Ioane, 13 Leonardo Marin, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Louis Lynagh, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Michele Lamaro (c), 5 Niccolo Cannone, 4 Andrea Zambonin, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti.
Bench: 16 Pablo Dimcheff, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Giosue Zilocchi, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Riccardo Favretto, 21 David Odiase, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Paolo Odogwu.
– AFP
Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images
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