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O'Shea makes changes for France 6 Nations clash

Italy coach Conor O'Shea

Italy coach Conor O’Shea has recalled George Biagi into the squad to face France in the Natwest 6 Nations, with Renato Giammarioli, Giovanni Licata and Giulio Bisegni also drafted in.

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The Azzurri have been thumped 46-15 by England and 56-19 by Ireland in the first two matches of the tournament

O’Shea’s side will look to pull off an upset in Paris a week on Friday and have opted to bring back lock Biagi and flanker Giammarioli, who both featured against England but missed the match in Dublin.

Flanker Licata last played against South Africa in November, while centre Bisegni has not made an appearance since Italy’s 2017 Six Nations loss to England in February of that year.

Full-back Edoardo Padovani is still out with an ankle injury.

Italy squad:

Forwards: Luca Bigi, Dean Budd, Oliviero Fabiani, Simone Ferrari, Leonardo Ghiraldini, Andrea Lovotti, Maxime Mbanda, Sebastian Negri, Sergio Parisse (captain), Tiziano Pasquali, Nicola Quaglio, Marco Riccioni, Federico Ruzza, Abraham Steyn, Alexander Zanni.

Backs: Tomasso Allan, Mattia Bellini, Tomasso Benvenuti, Tomasso Boni, Carlo Canna, Tomasso Castello, Edoardo Gori, Jayden Hayward, Ian McKinley, Matteo Minozzi, Marcello Violi.

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Comments on RugbyPass

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A S 4 minutes ago
App comment - https://www.rugbypass.com/plus/have-the-all-blacks-stumbled-across-the-perfect-midfield-partnership/

Load of nonsense. Tupaea and Jordie already did this against the Boks earlier this year, but keep ignoring what doesn’t fit your narrative.

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GodOfFriedChicken 20 minutes ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

Yeah I’d be more worried about Codie’s form by then, especially at a physical position like front row. Ardie should definitely be captain as most of NZ outside of Canterbury and maybe Taranaki have been calling for, especially since his season for Moana. Personally I think number 8 can be rotated between a few players to give them some game time because we have a lot of hard running loose forwards - Sititi, Lakai, Papali’i has played there a bunch for Counties and also Hoskins (who was robbed of a chance to show his improvement last year). Some could be 8s that feature in 2027, others could feature at 6 or 7, but at the very least we’ve given regular game time to a number of loose forwards and got an idea of who’s good around the park. Worked for Ardie.

With the midfield, keeping Jordie in NZ next year may be beneficial for his combination with Proctor. They seemed to lack chemistry at test level. The game plan though just didn’t seem to work well through the midfield, especially with how much we kicked the ball away.



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C
CM 34 minutes ago
'Tonyball, ageing warriors and worrying growth' - What the Springboks learned from the Rugby Championship

I feel that a convincing win against Ireland is more of a must than beating both Ireland and France. Ireland have been this sides dark horse, and we need the confidence boost that will come with beating them by a somewhat decent margin, or even just being overwhelmingly dominant and coming out with a win.

I think we’ll be alright at hooker, Wessels looked quite comfortable there and seemed to make an impact when he came off the bench for Marx. His throwingwas also decent. Bongie should feature in the November tour, and I feel he will stick around as a mentor to help get the other hookers up to scratch.



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F
Flankly 37 minutes ago
'Tonyball, ageing warriors and worrying growth' - What the Springboks learned from the Rugby Championship

Yes. I expect transition defense is compromised because it is not independent of the attacking shapes. Players are in new places on attack, and a turnover in open play finds the Bok defense (especially deep defense) differently positioned than they would have been in Nienaber days.

Agree that #2 has been a strangely unaddressed position in the Rassie introduction of nextgen players. Outside of Marx and Bongi we seem to have Wessels and vd Merwe as the go forward bets. Their introduction is strangely gentle, and you’d have to believe that Rassie thinks they need more time as apprentices.



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C
CO 53 minutes ago
App comment - https://www.rugbypass.com/plus/have-the-all-blacks-stumbled-across-the-perfect-midfield-partnership/

The Allblacks need to stop their fixation on trying to annoint long term incumbents. It's shrinking their talent pool and peak potential.

It's no coincidence the Boks reached a new peak record against the Allblacks as they continue to build depth through rotation.



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G
GodOfFriedChicken 1 hour ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

Either way, he’s already in decline and will be hitting 30 in the next World Cup. Wings notoriously expire early unless they play other positions due to the amount of athleticism required. I don’t blame it all on him though, the backline has been a mess in general and the ball rarely gets out to the wing unless it’s kicked there. It’d be pretty crap to be someone actually playing well on the wing all season to have your chance at a black jersey held back by someone who hadn’t even played wing at any level for years. I personally think he could’ve been used in a utility role for the Blues to help with that but their wings are already too stacked for him to switch around.

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Tk 1 hour ago
App comment - https://www.rugbypass.com/plus/have-the-all-blacks-stumbled-across-the-perfect-midfield-partnership/

I was surprised that Quinn was at 13 over Leicester but he was great. One swallow doesn't make a summer, but just maybe Jordie, Quinn and Leicester will be the 3 match day centres to the world cup.

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S
Skinny Pins 1 hour ago
App comment - https://www.rugbypass.com/plus/have-the-all-blacks-stumbled-across-the-perfect-midfield-partnership/

Every. Single. Year. Gregor. Misses. The. Obvious…

Australia is the only major international team that doesn't bring line speed on defence and pressure our 9, 10, 12 and 13. Every year those players struggle, then play the Bledisloe, then struggle again. Every year Gregor lights up with excitement at Jordie “finding form" and some or other 13 outside him playing well, but it is the Australian opposition enabling this, not those players themselves. Rest assured, the midfield will resume struggling again on the Northern tour. Rest equally assured, Gregor, a professional rugby writer let us not forget, will entirely miss the point when this happens.



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4 Go to comments
S
SB 1 hour ago
'Tonyball, ageing warriors and worrying growth' - What the Springboks learned from the Rugby Championship

Very fair points. I am also of the opinion that beating either Ireland or France will do, both will be a bonus. Our defence has certainly regressed marginally, as our attack improved. The offset is most likely inevitable given how hard we work on our attack shape, kick chase, etc. So I'm with you there too.

Nortje has become an ultra-consistent work horse and a much improved lineout operator. Mbonambi remains our best throwing hooker, which is a worry given his age.



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R
Rugby 101 - Ed Pye 1 hour ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

While I agree the development in terms of playing minutes hasnt been great, there is more to development than just game minutes…how players adapt to the environment, how they train, how they handle more responsibility and a bigger spotlight, how they motivate themselves. All of those things are being monitored in that evironment and contribute to whether they get selected as a whole.

Some of those players - Lio Willie and Plummer were in and out of the team based on injuries. Kirifi has had fairly decent minutes for a first year player alongside others like Carter, Proctor, Holland, Tosi and Norris. Others like Love and Tavatavanawai, I agree havent been given enough minutes.



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GrahamVF 1 hour ago
App comment - https://www.rugbypass.com/news/jake-white-why-im-deeply-troubled-after-stellar-rugby-championship/

Nice piece Mac. Agree with just about everything - and you know there will be a “but” coming - and here it comes. The money interest and emotions generated by long tours of yesteryear have not been replicated. The two/ three test mid year tours are poor replacements. The Springbok/ All Black every four years home tours will grow in stature. I was at a braai with Peter Kirsten and I asked him of all his prestigious moments in sport which one stood out. “Bloody nearly beating the best rugby team ever assembled the ‘74 Lions. Standing opposite people like Gareth Edwards and Phil Bennett as an absolute kid was amazing and the best moment of my life was when I realised I could actually live on a pitch with those maestros.” I’ve taken licence but in essence that is what he said. That is why the top vs top only is - to quote a legendary coach - not in the spirit of the game 😆 But seriously long tours are what made rugby special. Club standard players getting a run against the Wallabies or NZ. So can we make a compromise? Or has it become too much about money?

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f
frandinand 2 hours ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

He's only going to Leinster for six months and will be available for the ABs next year.

Just like Jordy this year.



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f
frandinand 2 hours ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

And unfortunately he has continued to select the two biggest problems

The backline will never flourish until you find an international quality number 10



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P
PMcD 2 hours ago
'If the Boks' beauty doesn't get you, its Bomb Squad beast certainly will'

Don’t worry NB, we all trust your judgement. Just tell us how you see it.

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P
PMcD 2 hours ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

If you look at it a different way JB, Razor has improved the forwards but the backs have lost their creativity this year and is where the next wave of focus is required.

I think I am more positive than you guys for the AB’s as I am 100% certain the AB’s have the players they need, it’s a case of playing them in the right positions and adding more power & pace to this team.



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b
bit of a flanker 2 hours ago
Twelve down to two: Scotland’s second-row depth gives Townsend autumn dilemma

Don’t forget Jamie Hodgson, regularly starting for Newcastle, who’s new consultant is…Gregor Townsend

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D
DC1999 2 hours ago
Maverick Bristol ringmaster won’t change Bears' fearless high-wire act despite injuries

Imagine they let the Barbarians into the Six Nations... They'd play some cool rugby, they'd win some, they'd lose some but no one would ever really worry about them winning it. That's Bristol. They're an entertainment brand but they're not a serious rugby organisation. I don't doubt that the players believe that they are, but the framework they are given is not robust enough for domestic or European success.

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P
PMcD 2 hours ago
Flavour of the month selections for the All Blacks are not viable long-term

I think that’s a fair question during his first two years but a lot of that went out of the window this TRC.

He’s put in Parker, Lakai, Tupoa, Carter and brought back Leicester - that’s an awful lot of change this Championship.



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M
Mark 3 hours ago
Maverick Bristol ringmaster won’t change Bears' fearless high-wire act despite injuries

Ultimately, a brand, a vision, an ideology must be judged upon tangible parameters, ie silverware, titles, etc.

To quote a much quoted line from a famous movie….”Show me the money”!!



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H
Hellhound 3 hours ago
'If the Boks' beauty doesn't get you, its Bomb Squad beast certainly will'

Oh he will get to taste that supper next year with the AB's tour to SA😂

167 Go to comments