Minute-by-minute report: Can Ireland stay on track for the Grand Slam with victory over an improving Italy. Join Lee Calvert
Italy welcome back their sparkly-eyed talisman, Paolo Garbisi, who takes his place in the 10 shirt and pushed Tommaso Allan onto the bench. Menoncello moves into the centres and Pierre Bruno regains his starting berth on the wing. The luckless Jake Polledri misses out with a further injury.
Andy Farrell makes six changes to his team, but I wouldn’t describe them as wholesale, as he has the luxury of dropping in players who have each had key roles in the recent renaissance. The biggest omission is Johnny Sexton - recovering from an injury but may well have missed this week in any case – replaced by Ross Byrne. Craig Casey, the Munster man who never misses a chance to sniff something, will be his halfback partner.
The absence of Sexton hands James Ryan the captaincy, and Garry Ringrose keeps his place in midfield to win his 50th cap.: Ange Capuozzo, Edoardo Padovani, Juan Ignacio Brex, Tommaso Menoncello, Pierre Bruno; Paolo Garbisi, Stephen Varney; Danilo Fischetti, Giacomo Nicotera, Simone Ferrari, Niccolò Cannone, Federico Ruzza, Sebastian Negri, Michele Lamaro, Lorenzo Cannone.
The Azzurri are back in Rome as a very different team to most of the intervening period, and while the victories are not rolling in so far in 2023,they are no longer being humiliated – far from it. After running France very close and giving England something of a fright in the second half at Twickenham, Kieran Crowley’s team will be heading onto home grass today knowing they can test and push any team if they play their best.
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