Italy team v Wales: Slight tweaks as Azzurri target historic Six Nations victory and a first against Warren Gatland’s men
Gonzalo Quesada has limited the changes to his matchday 23 for the second round of the Six Nations.
Italy head coach Gonzalo Quesada has made a slight tweak to his matchday 23 for the second round of the Six Nations as the Azzurri face off against Wales in Rome.
Italy have a shot at history this weekend at the Stadio Olimpico as they aim to win back-to-back games over Wales for the first time in their history.
Quesada’s team won their most recent Six Nations match at home, defeating Scotland 31-29 in round four last year, with that result ending a 26-game home losing streak in the Championship.
A win over Warren Gatland’s charges, who have lost their last 13 Test matches in a row, would see Italy claim just their second back-to-back home win in the Championship history after beating Scotland (13-6 in 2012) and France (23-18 in 2013).
Italy’s last two victories over Wales have both come in Cardiff with the Azzurri aiming to claim their first home win over this weekend’s opposition for the first time since 2007, losing each of their eight such meetings since, with the last six coming by margins of 10+ points.
Quesada limits changes
Following Italy’s 31-19 defeat to Scotland in round one, Quesada has limited the changes to his team to just two, with Niccolo Cannone replacing Dino Lamb in the starting XV, with the latter dropping to the bench.
Staying with the bench and Jacopo Trulla replaces Simone Gesi as the second backline player in the 6-2 split along with Alessandro Garbisi.
Gianmarco Lucchesi, Luca Rizzoli, Marco Riccioni, Lamb, Manuel Zuliani and Ross Vintcent are the forward options among the replacements.
Quesada has not made any changes to his starting backline as Tommaso Allan, Ange Capuozzo and Monty Ioane are named as the starting outside backs.
Tommaso Menoncello and Juan Ignacio Brex continue in the centres with Paolo Garbisi and Martin Page-Relo in the half-backs.
Michele Lamaro captains the team from the side of the scrum, Sebastian Negri is the blindside flanker again with Lorenzo Cannone at number eight.
Federico Ruzza combines with Niccolo Cannone in the second-row with the in-form front-row of Simone Ferrari, Giacomo Nicotera and Danilo Fischetti up front.
Italy team v Wales
Italy: 15 Tommaso Allan, 14 Ange Capuozzo, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Martin Page-Relo, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements: 16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Luca Rizzoli, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Dino Lamb, 20 Manuel Zuliani, 21 Ross Vintcent, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Jacopo Trulla
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Date: Saturday, 8 February, 2025
Kick-off: 15:15 local (14:15 GMT)
Referee: Matthew Carley (RFU)
Assistant Referee 1: Paul Williams (NZR)
Assistant Referee 2: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (FFR)
FPRO: Glenn Newman (NZR)
Broadcasters:?BBC, France Télévisions, Virgin Media One, Sky Sport / TV8 (Italy), Supersport (Africa), WOWOW (Japan), Premier Sports (Pan Asia), Stan Sport (Australia), Sky NZ (New Zealand), DAZN (Canada), NBC / Peacock / FuboTV (USA)
