Italy name experienced outfit for Murrayfield battle
Today at 09:27 AM
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Italy head coach Gonzalo Quesada selected a strong outfit that will face Scotland at Murrayfield in their Six Nations opener on Saturday.
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It will be the 38th match between the two teams, the 19th in Scotland.
Scotland leads the charge with 28 victories with Italy having recorded nine, the last one in March 2024 when Michele Lamaro lifted the "Cuttitta Cup" which, on Saturday, will be up for grabs again between the two sides to celebrate the memory of Massimo Cuttitta, historic captain of Italy and coach of the Scottish forwards.
The back three consists of Tommaso Allan deployed at fullback along with the wings Ange Capuozzo and Monty Ioane.
The centre pairing consists of Juan Ignacio Brex – who scored a try and was named Player of the Match last year in Rome against the Scots and Tommaso Menoncello.
The same players who took to the field two years ago in the back row will line-up again - with Lorenzo Cannone at No.8, partnered by captain Michele Lamaro and Sebastian Negri as the flankers.
At lock, Federico Ruzza will partner with Dino Lamb while in the front row Danilo Fischetti, Giacomo Nicotera and Simone Ferrari will lead the Italian scrum.
On the bench, debutant Rizzoli is ready to collect his first cap.
The bench consists of Gianmarco Lucchesi, Marco Riccioni, Niccolò Cannone, Manuel Zuliani, Ross Vintcent, Alessandro Garbisi and Simone Gesi who found his first and only cap with Italy against Scotland at Murrayfield two years ago.
Italy: 15 Tommaso Allan, 14 Ange Capuozzo, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Matin Page-Relo, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (captain), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Dino Lamb, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti.
Replacements: 16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Luca Rizzoli, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Niccolo Cannone, 20 Manuel Zuliani, 21 Ross Vintcent, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Simone Gesi.
Date: Saturday, February 1
Venue: Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Kick-off: 14.15 (15.15 Italian time; 14.15 GMT)
Referee: Karl Dickson (England)
Assistant referees: Luke Pearce (England) & Damian Schneider (Argentina)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
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