Matteo Minozzi handed Italy start for England clash
Matteo Minozzi (ITA) during the Six Nations rugby union tournament match between France and Italy at the stade de France, in Saint Denis, on February 9, 2020. Photo by Julien Poupart/ABACAPRESS.COM
Italy head coach Franco Smith has brought Wasps full-back Matteo Minozzi into his XV to take on England on Saturday.
Minozzi missed last weekend’s encounter against Ireland as he was on club duty with the Midlanders, starting in their 19-13 loss to Exeter Chiefs in the Premiership final.
He replaces Jayden Hayward and joins Edoardo Padovani and Mattia Bellini in the back three.
Paolo Garbisi continues
Youngster Paolo Garbisi once again starts after scoring a fine individual try in their heavy defeat in Dublin. Marcello Vioili continues alongside him in the scrum-half position.
The pack is unchanged with Braam Steyn, Sebastian Negri and Jake Polledri forming a powerful back-row, but there is one alteration on the bench.
Callum Braley is dropped from the squad and Guglielmo Palazzani comes into the 23-man group.
“In Ireland we saw flashes of our game and something positive, but we are aware that we have a lot of work ahead of us. We are a young team that wants to emerge,” said Smith.
Italy: 15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Edoardo Padovani, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Carlo Canna, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Marcello Vioili, 8 Jake Polledri, 7 Braam Steyn, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Niccolò Cannone, 4 Marco Lazzaroni, 3 Giosuè Zilocchi, 2 Luca Bigi (c), 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements: 16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Simone Ferrari, 18 Pietro Ceccarelli, 19 David Sisi, 20 Johan Meyer, 21 Maxime Mbanda, 22 Guglielmo Palazzani, 23 Federico Mori
Date: Saturday, October 31
Venue: Stadio Olimpico
Kick-off: 17:45 local (16:45 GMT)
Referee: Pascal Gauzere (France)
Assistant Referees: Alex Ruiz (France), Mike Adamson (Scotland)
TMO: Romain Poite (France)