Italian coach Jacques Brunel has made three changes to his starting team for their third and final year-end Test, against Argentina in Rome on Saturday. There is also a positional switch in the backline.
In the Argentina camp, player release has forced Argentina into 5 changes for their closing tour match against Italy on Saturday from the team beaten 40-6 by Wales last weekend.
Italy:
Young Michele Campagnaro, who made his debut off the bench against Fiji last week, comes in at outside centre for his first Test start and Gonzalo Canale moves from No.13 to inside centre.
The midfield change has been necessitated by the absence of Luca Morisi, who has undergone surgery to have his spleen removed – following a heavy tackle in Saturday’s 37-31 Test win over Fiji.
Morisi was floored by a crushing tackle from Asaeli Tikoirotuma in the opening minutes and although he returned to the fray following treatment he looked jaded and was forced off shortly afterwards.
The backline shows one other change, where Tommaso Allan will also make his first Test start – having featured off the bench against Australia and Fiji in the previous weeks.
The pack shows just one change – where Robert Barbieri replaces veteran Mauro Bergamasco at flank.
It will be the 19th encounter between the Azzurri and the Pumas – with Italy having won just five of their previous 18 matches, with one ending in a draw and Argentina winning 12.
Argentina:
The Pumas will be without first-choice centres Marcelo Bosch and Santiago Fernandez and lock Patricio Albacetedue to an agreement between their European clubs and Argentina.
The players have been with the Pumas since August taking part in the southern hemisphere’s Rugby Championship, missing the early part of the European season with their clubs.
Coach Daniel Hourcade has moved left wing Horacio Agulla into Bosch’s outside centre position in the team he named on Thursday, the Argentine union UAR said in a statement.
Hourcade has brought Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino back into the side on the right wing while Gabriel Azcarate takes the inside centre berth left vacant by Fernandez to make up an untested midfield partnership with Agulla.
Juan Imhoff, injured in Argentina’s 31-12 defeat by England two weeks ago, returns to the left wing with Santiago Cordero, who made his first Pumas start against the Welsh, stepping back down to the bench.
Bosch has returned to Saracens and Fernandez to Bayonne in France, while in the forwards, lock Mariano Galarza comes in for Albacate, who has gone back to Toulouse.
In the back row, Benjamin Macome comes in at No 8 with Pablo Matera dropping down to the bench and captain Juan Manuel Leguizamon moving to blindside flanker.
Italy: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Giovambattista, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Gonzalo Canale, 11 Tommaso Iannone, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (Captain), 7 Robert Barbieri, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Valerio Bernabo, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements: 16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Matias Aguero, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Marco Bortolami, 20 Joshua Furno, 21 Tobias Botes, 22 Luciano Orquera, 23 Tommaso Benvenuti.
Argentina: 15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino, 13 Horacio Agulla, 12 Gabriel Azcarate, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Benjamin Macome, 7 Julio Farias Cabello, 6 Juan Manuel Leguizamon (Captain), 5 Mariano Galarza, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Maximiliano Bustos, 2 Eusebio Guinazu, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements: 16 Santiago Iglesias, 17 Nahuel Lobo, 18 Matias Diaz, 19 Tomas Lavanini, 20 Pablo Matera, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Javier Rojas, 23 Santiago Cordero.
Date: Saturday 23 November 2013
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Kick-off: 16:00 SA Time (15:00 Italy Time, 14:00 GMT, 11:00 Argentina time)
Referee: Chris Pollock (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees: George Clancy (Ireland), JP Doyle (England)
TMO: Gareth Simmonds (Wales)