mens
nations-championship
Gonzalo Quesada has made five changes to Italy’s starting XV for Saturday Nations Championship conflict with Argentina in Genoa after last weekend’s 66-7 loss to South Africa.
Tommaso Allan returns at full-back in one of the headline changes, joining Ange Capuzzo and Monty Ioane in a back three, while Paolo Odogwu and Leonardo Marin continue together in midfield.
Stephen Varney replaces Alessandro Fusco at half-time, along with Paolo Garbisi, while the pack is also changed. Danilo Fischetti returns relaxed, and captain Giacomo Nicotera and Simone Ferrari complete the front row.
Ross Vintcent and Manuel Zuliani join Lorenzo Cannone on the back row, while Federico Ruzza and Niccolò Cannone stay together on the second row.
Quesada also handed Federico Mori a place on the bench, bringing Bayonne back to an Italy squad in the game for the first time in more than two years. Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi, who played off the bench against the Springboks, was retained among the substitutes.
Italy were delighted in Turin, trailing 45-0 at half-time before eventually falling to a nine-try defeat, although they managed to make the second period more competitive.
The Azzurri now face Argentina in the fifth round of the Nations League before finishing the regular season against Fiji in Udine next weekend.
This is the 25th meeting between Italy and Argentina, and the 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 Vincent, 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.