Italy coach Kieran Crowley said
Thursday that he was happy with his men's attitude as he named
his side for Saturday's test match against New Zealand at Rome's
Stadio Olimpico.
The former All Black fullback is making his debut on the Azzurri
bench while flanker Michele Lamaro, the man he has made captain,
will lead the national team for the first time.
"We worked on various aspects of the game over the last few
days, dealing with the details of every aspect," Crowley said.
"The lads showed a great attitude during the training sessions,
demonstrating great desire to create something important with
this shirt.
"The focus on Saturday will be on our performance, following a
path aimed at creating a precise team identity".
Italy lost 66-3 to the All Blacks the last time the teams met,
three years ago in Rome.
They were also meant to meet at the 2019 World Cup in Japan but
the encounter was cancelled due to Typhoon Hagibis.
Italy: 15 Matteo Minozzi (Wasps Rugby, 22 caps), 14 Federico
Mori (Bordeaux, 9 caps), 13 Juan Ignacio Brex (Benetton Rugby, 5
caps), 12 Marco Zanon (Benetton Rugby, 6 caps) 11 Montanna Ioane
(Benetton Rugby, 6 caps), 10 Paolo Garbisi (Montpellier, 10
caps), 9 Stephen Varney (Gloucester Rugby 7 caps); 8 Renato
Giammarioli (Zebre Parma, 4 caps), 7 Michele Lamaro (Benetton
Rugby, 7 caps) - captain, 6 Sebastian Negri (Benetton Rugby, 33
caps), 5 David Sisi (Zebre Parma, 15 caps), 4 Marco Fuser
(Newcastle Falcons, 33 caps), 3 Marco Riccioni (Saracens, 15
caps), 2 Gianmarco Lucchesi (Benetton Rugby, 6 caps), 1 Danilo
Fischetti (Zebre Parma, 12 caps).
Replacements: 16 Luca Bigi (Zebre Parma 37 caps), 17 Ivan Nemer
(Benetton Ruby), 18 Pietro Ceccarelli (Brive, 14 caps), 19
Niccolò Cannone (Benetton Rugby, 13 caps), 20 Federico Ruzza
(Benetton Rugby, 22 caps), 21 Abraham Steyn (Benetton Rugby, 44
caps), 22 Callum Braley (Benetton Rugby, 10 caps), 23 Carlo
Canna (Zebre Parma, 52 caps).
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