Italy ring the changes for Samoa

Editor

Italy head coach Jacques Brunel has rung the changes to his starting line-up for Saturday's international against Samoa in Apia.

Italy boss Jacques Brunel has rung the changes to his starting line-up for Saturday's Test against Samoa in Apia.

After last weekend's 29-14 defeat to Fiji in Suva, Brunel has made nine alterations to his run-on side with five changes made in the backs and four amongst the forwards.

Full-back Luke McLean and left wing Giovambattista Venditti are the only survivors from the the back-line that lost to Fiji.

Angelo Esposito comes in for Leonardo Sarto on the right wing while Andrea Masi and Gonzalo Garcia replace Michele Campagnaro and Alberto Sgarbi in midfield.

There's also a new half-back pairing with Tommaso Allan and Tito Tebaldi taking over from Luciano Orquera and Guglielmo Palazzani, who are both on the replacements bench.

Up front, openside flanker Mauro Bergamasco, captain and lock Quintin Geldenhuys, tighthead prop Lorenzo Cittadini and hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini retain their starting positions.

Robert Barbieri and Paul Derbyshire replace Manoa Vosawai and Joshua Furno at number eight and blindside flanker, respectively, while George Fabio is preferred to Marco Bortolami in the second row and Alberto de Marchi takes over at loosehead prop from Matias Aguero.

Italy: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Andrea Masi, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Giovambattista Venditti, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Robert Barbieri, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Paul Derbyshire, 5 George Fabio, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys (c), 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Alberto de Marchi.
Replacements: 16 Andrea Manici, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Marco Bortolami, 20 Josh Furno, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Luciano Orquera, 23 Tommaso Iannone.

Date: Saturday, June 14
Kick-off: 14:00 local (02:00 BST, 01:00 GMT)
Venue: Apia Park, Apia
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Andrew Lees (Australia), James Leckie (Australia)