Italy make five changes for France after All Blacks hammering

Italy have made five changes from the team that lost to the All Blacks last week for France this Friday in Lyon, with head coach Kieran Crowley opting to completely change the front-row.

Loosehead prop Simone Ferrari, hooker Epalahame Faiva and tighthead Pietro Ceccarelli all come in to replace Danilo Fischetti, Giacomo Nicotera and Marco Riccioni, respectively, with only Riccioni surviving on the bench. Loosehead Marco Manfredi and hooker Federico Zani are the other two front-row options among the substitutes.

While there is only one change in the backline – with Pierre Bruno replacing Luca Morisi – there has been a lot of shuffling by Crowley, with Ange Capuozzo shifting from the wing to fullback, Tommy Allan moving from fullback to fly-half and Paolo Garbisi moving from No10 to inside centre.

The remaining change sees second-row Niccolo Cannone replace Dino Lamb.

Following a disastrous performance last week against the All Blacks in Lyon, where the Azzurri lost 96-17, Crowley said his side’s focus has solely been on this week’s encounter. He said: “Our focus will be on our performance. We worked during the week thinking about our next commitment. We want to honour our identity as a team and try to take the next step.”

Head-to-Head

Last 5 Meetings

Wins

4

Draws

1

Wins

0

Average Points scored

38

13

First try wins

40%

Home team wins

40%

Italy XV
15 Ange CAPUOZZO (Stade Toulousain, 15 caps)
14 Pierre BRUNO (Zebre Parma, 14 caps)
13 Juan Ignacio BREX (Benetton Rugby, 29 caps)
12 Paolo GARBISI (Montpellier, 30 caps)
11 Montanna IOANE (Lione, 24 caps)
10 Tommaso ALLAN (Perpignan, 78 caps)
9 Stephen VARNEY (Gloucester Rugby, 23 caps)
8 Lorenzo CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 15 caps)
7 Michele LAMARO (Benetton Rugby, 32 caps) – capitano
6 Sebastian NEGRI (Benetton Rugby, 51 caps)
5 Federico RUZZA (Benetton Rugby, 48 caps)
4 Niccolò CANNONE (Benetton Rugby, 35 caps)
3 Pietro CECCARELLI (Perpignan, 30 caps)
2 Epalahame FAIVA (svincolato, 9 caps)
1 Simone FERRARI (Benetton Rugby, 49 caps)

Replacements
16 Marco MANFREDI (Zebre Parma, 2 caps)
17 Federico ZANI (Benetton Rugby, 24 caps)
18 Marco RICCIONI (Saracens, 25 caps)
19 David SISI (Zebre Parma, 29 caps)
20 Manuel ZULIANI (Benetton Rugby, 16 caps)
21 Alessandro FUSCO (Zebre Parma, 16 caps)
22 Luca MORISI (Zebre Parma, 49 caps)
23 Lorenzo PANI (Zebre Parma, 4 caps)