NICE: Italy will bring in Lorenzo Pani, Alessandro Garbisi, Niccolo Cannone, and Marco Riccioni for the Rugby World Cup Pool A clash against Uruguay at the Stade de Nice tomorrow, making four changes from their opening 52-8 win over Namibia.
Coach Kieran Crowley has moved Ange Capuozzo from wing to full-back and Tommaso Allan will return to fly-half, with Pani, making his Rugby World Cup debut, coming in on the wing to face a Uruguay side which impressed in their 27-12 loss against France.
Italy will start with two sets of brothers for the first time in a Rugby World Cup match, with the Garbisi and Cannone siblings all making the team.
Alessandro Garbisi takes over from Stephen Varney at scrum-half while his brother Paolo will wear the No 12 shirt for the first time, moving from fly-half to replace Luca Morisi as centre.
Niccolo Cannone replaces lock Dino Lamb, who scored a try against Namibia but will drop to the bench for this match. Lorenzo Cannone will retain the No 8 position.
Prop Riccioni will come in for Simone Ferrari, who is not in the 23-man matchday line-up, while back row Sebastian Negri will retain his place to make his 50th appearance for Italy.
Having won as expected against Namibia, and with New Zealand and France still to come, Italy cannot afford to take the match with Uruguay lightly.
“We worked well during the week in Bourgoin,” Crowley said. “We are in a World Cup, every game has its importance, its difficulties, and its history.”
“The preparation for the match against Uruguay was good. We will be focused on our performance.”
Italy’s last match against Uruguay gave Crowley his first win as coach of the Azzurri. In November 2021, in his third game in charge, Italy won 17-10 against the South Americans.
Seven players from that Italian team will start against Uruguay, Ignacio Brex, Monty Ioane, Paolo Garbisi, Federico Ruzza, Danilo Fischetti, Negri, and captain Michele Lamaro.
Hosts France, New Zealand, and Namibia are the other teams in Pool A.
Italy squad
15-Ange Capuozzo, 14-Lorenzo Pani, 13-Juan Ignacio Brex, 12-Paolo Garbisi, 11-Montanna Ioane, 10-Tommaso Allan, 9-Alessandro Garbisi, 8-Lorenzo Cannone, 7-Michele Lamaro (C), 6-Sebastian Negri, 5-Federico Ruzza, 4-Niccolo Cannone, 3-Marco Riccioni, 2-Giacomo Nicotera, 1-Danilo Fischetti
Replacements: 16-Luca Bigi, 17-Federico Zani, 18-Pietro Ceccarelli, 19-Dino Lamb, 20-Manuel Zuliani, 21-Giovanni Pettinelli, 22-Alessandro Fusco, 23-Paolo Odogwu