Italy coach Conor O'Shea has made
just one change to his starting lineup for Saturday's final Six
Nations match against Scotland in Rome, with Gloucester flanker
Jake Polledri coming in to make his debut.
The 22-year-old English-Italian player replaces Maxime
Mbandà, who injured his knee in last week's 38-14 defeat in
Wales, on the open side of the back row.
The Azzurri are set to finish bottom of the standings even if
they end a 16-match losing streak in the Six Nations at the
Stadio Olimpico this weekend.
But coach Conor O'Shea was upbeat about his team's prospects.
"I have always said that in the Six Nations, if we play at
the maximum and the others play at the maximum, we will lose,
but now I say that it's possible to win against anyone, if we
only manage to control what we want in the important moments of
matches," he said.
"We have started a process that will allow us to grow year by
year with this group, also after the World Cup," he said.
Italy team:
15. Matteo Minozzi - Zebre
14. Tommaso Benvenuti - Benetton
13. Giulio Bisegni - Zebre
12. Tommaso Castello - Zebre
11. Mattia Bellini - Zebre
10. Tommaso Allan - Benetton
9. Marcello Violi - Zebre
1. Andrea Lovotti - Zebre
2. Leonardo Ghiraldini - Toulouse
3. Simone Ferrari - Benetton
4. Alessandro Zanni - Benetton
5. Dean Budd - Benetton
6. Sebastian Negri - Benetton
7. Jake Polledri - Gloucester Rugby
8. Sergio Parisse - Stade Francais
Replacements:
16. Oliviero Fabiani - Zebre
17. Nicola Quaglio - Benetton
18. Tiziani Pasquali - Benetton
19. Abraham Steyn - Benetton
20. Giovanni Licata - Fiamme Oro
21. Guglielmo Palazzani - Zebre
22. Carlo Canna - Zebre
23. Jayden Hayward - Benetton
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