Azzurri skipper: Martin Castrogiovanni
Leicester prop Martin Castrogiovanni will captain Italy against Wales at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Saturday in a team featuring four changes.
Kristopher Burton takes over from Luciano Orquera at fly-half while Edoardo Gori starts ahead of Tobias Botes to form a new half-back combination in the wake of Italy's disappointing defeat at Murrayfield.
Ratu Manoa Vosawai starts at number eight in place of suspended skipper Sergio Parisse.
Fiji-born Vosawai is among six Treviso forwards selected in the Italian pack, with the only exceptions being Castrogiovanni and Racing Metro prop Andrea Lo Cicero.
29-year-old Vosawai has been playing his club rugby in Italy since 2004 and has won 10 caps for his adopted country.
In the second-row, Antonio Pavanello takes over from Quintin Geldenhuys, who drops to the replacements' bench.
Castrogiovanni, who wins his 94th cap, skippered his country in last season's Six Nations win against Scotland but the absence of Parisse will come as a heavy blow to the Italians.
"I saw the (Stade Français) match and right away I thought to myself - this is a disaster," French coach Jacques Brunel said of the red card handed out to Parisse which is at the origin of his ban.
"But since then I have been preparing to field a team without Parisse and I still think that we can win this match with Manoa.
"It's better for us to concentrate on the Welsh and not get too caught up with the absence of Parisse. Other players can influence the game and we cannot be over-dependent on the one player."
Italy have beaten Wales on two previous Six Nations occasions in Rome - in 2003 and 2007 - and it will be the countries' first championship meeting at the Stadio Olimpico.
Italy: 15 Andrea Masi, 14 Giovambattista Venditti, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Gonzalo Canale, 11 Luke McLean, 10 Kristopher Burton, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Ratu Manoa Vosawai, 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Francesco Minto, 4 Antonio Pavanello, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini (c) 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Replacements: 16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Quintin Geldenhuys, 20 Paul Derbyshire, 21 Tobias Botes, 22 Luciano Orquera, 23 Gonzalo Garcia.
Kick-off: 15:30 (14:30 GMT)
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees: Alain Rolland (Ireland), Pascal Gauzere (France)
Television match official: Geoff Warren (England)
Comments
maxs7 says...
Yes, Barbieri is not yet fully fit as he was injuried just before the match against France. Probably he will be ready for the next match. Come on Italy!
Posted 22:53 21st February 2013
Lucasrg says...
Just to confirm that Brunel said today that "...Barbieri is not 100% fit..." and that Quintin Geldenhuys has just become a father so his brain is somewhere else.
Zanni is not at 8 because Brunel has never seen him playing at 8 in Treviso.
Posted 20:50 21st February 2013
Lucasrg says...
@lorenz78
Your double post make your point very clear and indeed I agree now that the only thing why Barbieri is not in the 23 is because he must be unfit. Which is very sad and that might explain some poor Treviso games in the last few months after a cracking start from Barbieri himself.
@carpelone
you said "Expecting a close game, it is mainly Treviso + against Ospreys +."
Exactly why this game is going to be very close, they all know each others pretty well and both sides know they can have a chance, but nothing granted.
I would expect Zanni at 8 and derbyshire covering the position. and Vosawai on the bench. the Fiji-born is pure dynamite ball in hand and is a dominant defender, so nothing wrong with him at 8 and I do have high hopes in his performance.
It's good to see back in action Gori who will take his chances against another running scrum half (Phillips) in what would be a cracking duel. Phillips will put a lot of pressure on him so its going to be another mentality check for the young scrum half...will he be able to defend well against Phillips sniping runs? We'll see, plus Gori is a better tackler then Botes.
Castro captaincy did raise my eyebrows, but he has all the charisma and the experience to be captain. So nothing wrong with this. What I really like to see is what everyone here wants, a good free-flow performance by the Italians without lack of intensity for 80 minutes.
My only problem with this squad is Canale at 12 while Masi would be more useful against big Roberts. I hope Gonzalo can prove me wrong.
Forza Italia
Posted 19:54 21st February 2013
lorenz78 says...
I had the same question about Barbieri, unfortunately Italian sports media may help you learning all details of a footballer's sexual life, but hardly anything useful about other sports.
He was injured for the match against France, he was released to Treviso at the time of Scotland (I thought he was not yet fully fit and Brunel wanted him to get some game time), but last week he was not playing for Treviso. I assume he must still be injured or not yet 100%, otherwise I do not see the reason why he should not be in the 23.
Vosawai is probably the only available specialist n°8 with some international experience, I have never been sure that he is really Test material: in the end I think the choice was between starting him or Derbyshire (in the latter case, moving Zanni to 8)
Posted 17:28 21st February 2013
lorenz78 says...
I had the same question about Barbieri, unfortunately Italian sports media may help you learning all details of a footballer's sexual life, but hardly anything useful about other sports.
He was injured for the match against France, he was released to Treviso at the time of Scotland (I thought he was not yet fully fit and Brunel wanted him to get some game time), but last week he was not playing for Treviso. I assume he must still be injured or not yet 100%, otherwise I do not see the reason why he should not be in the 23.
Vosawai is probably the only available specialist n°8 with some international experience, I have never been sure that he is really Test material: in the end I think the choice was between starting him or Derbyshire (in the latter case, moving Zanni to 8)
Posted 17:10 21st February 2013
carpelone says...
I guess Barbieri must be injured as he does not even feature on the bench.
Expecting a close game, it is mainly Treviso + against Ospreys +.
Posted 17:02 21st February 2013
melkdave says...
Have to say i dont know much,about Vosawei,i was expecting Babbari to be called into the matchday squad.So any info from our italian friends would be apprecited.I also still expect a very good game against Wales,Italy improve year on year imo,and although Wales have finally won.Their self belief maybe a little fragile,but we will see ,still could go either way really .
Posted 16:00 21st February 2013
apr7 says...
anybody knows why Barbieri is out of the team?, i remember he played in the last Treviso game, nothing against Vosawai, but Barbieri is in great shape since the start of the pro12 league and i I expected to see him in this tournament.
Posted 15:36 21st February 2013