Van Zyl to start for Italy against Scotland

  • Published
Italy beat Japan 31-24 in Cesena last week
Image caption,

Italy beat Japan 31-24 in Cesena last week

Italy coach Nick Mallett has made 11 changes for Saturday's World Cup warm-up Test against Scotland.

The Azzurri have restored a largely first choice three-quarter line, with only winger Tommaso Benvenuti staying in the starting XV.

Captain Sergio Parisse remains at number eight and front-rowers Andrea Lo Cicero and Leonardo Ghiraldini keep their places.

The visitors to Murrayfield beat Japan 31-24 in Cesena last week.

It means that Mallett will have given 26 of his 30-man squad a start in their two warm-ups ahead of the World Cup in New Zealand next month.

Only front-rowers Salvatore Perugini, who is injured, and Fabio Ongaro will not feature, while inexperienced hooker Tommaso D'Apice, who made a brief debut against Japan for the final two minutes, and third choice scrum-half Pablo Canavosio start from the bench for the second game in a row.

South African-born lock Cornelius Van Zyl makes his first start following his debut as a substitute against Japan.

Italy: Andrea Masi (Aironi); Tommaso Benvenuti (Treviso), Gonzalo Canale (Clermont-Auvergne/FRA), Gonzalo Garcia (Treviso), Mirco Bergamasco (Racing-Metro Paris/FRA); Luciano Orquera (Aironi), Fabio Semenzato (Treviso); Sergio Parisse (Stade Francais/FRA) - capt, Robert Barbieri (Treviso), Paul Derbyshire (Treviso); Cornelius Van Zyl (Treviso), Carlo Antonio Del Fava (Aironi); Martin Castrogiovanni (Leicester Tigers/ENG), Leonardo Ghiraldini (Treviso), Andrea Lo Cicero (Racing-Metro Paris/FRA)

Replacements: Tommaso D'Apice (Aironi), Lorenzo Cittadini (Treviso), Marco Bortolami (Aironi), Alessandro Zanni (Treviso), Pablo Canavosio (Calvisano), Riccardo Bocchino (Cavalieri Prato), Matteo Pratichetti (Aironi)

Around the BBC

Related internet links

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.