Italy's Stade starters against Pumas
Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:01
Unsurprisingly Italian coach Nick Mallett has chosen three Stade Français players in his team to start against the Pumas in Cordoba, Argentina, on Saturday.
Sergio Parisse and the Bergamasco brothers are back in the side, Parisse as captain. Parisse was one of the stars of the 2008 Six Nations.
With the return of Mauro Bergamasco and Sergio Parisse, only Josh Sole of the loose forwards survives from last week's 0-26 loss to South Africa and he moves to flank from No.8. Robert Barbieri and Alessandro Zanni drop out, Barbieri altogether and Zanni to the bench.
Mirco Bergamasco replaces Andrea Masi.
With Parisse back as captain, Leonardo Ghiraldini drops to the bench, replaced at hooker by more experienced Fabio Ongaro.
There is also a change at loosehead where Argentinian Ignacio Rouyet, who came on as a replacement at Newlands plays instead of injured Michele Rizzo. On the bench as prop cover is a Leicester Tigers stalwart, Alex Moreno, also an Argentinian.
Those in the 22 who were born in Argentina are Gonzalo Garcia, Sergio Parisse, Santiago Dellapè, Carlos Nieto, Ignacio Rouyet, Alex Moreno and Pablo Canavosio.
Italy: 15 Andrea Marcato, 14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Mirco Bergamasco, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Matteo Pratichetti, 10 Luke McLean, 9 Simon Picone, 8 Sergio Parisse (captain), 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Josh Sole, 5 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 4 Santiago Dellapè, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Ignacio Rouyet.
Replacements: 16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Alex Moreno, 18 Tommaso Reato, 19 Alessandro Zanni, 20 Pablo Canavosio, 21 Enrico Patrizio, 22 Riccardo Pavan/Jaco Erasmus.
Date: Saturday, June 28
Kick-off: 15.10 (19.10 GMT)
Venue: Estadio Chateau Carreras, Córdoba
Referee: Matt Goddard (Australia)
Touch
judges: Craig Joubert (South Africa), Paul Marks (Australia)
TMO: George Ayoub (Australia)
