Five changes for winless Italy
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Conor O’Shea has made five changes to his Italy side as they bid to avoid yet another Six Nations wooden spoon.
The Azzurri are on a 20-match losing streak in the tournament and have opted to change a third of the team beaten in last Saturday’s round four game by England.
O’Shea’s only tweak in the back line to face struggling France is in midfield where he has handed Benetton centre Marco Zanon his debut alonside club-mate Luca Morisi.
However, he has rung the changes up front, altering half of those who started at Twickenham.
Jake Polledri returns to the starting line-up in the back row, David Sisi is back in the second row for the injured Dean Budd, while Tiziano Pasquali and Leonardo Ghiraldini also return to the front row.
“We will play against a very strong team, as always happens in the Six Nations,” said O’Shea.
“Our focus will be on ourselves trying to play our best rugby. We want to close the tournament with a great performance at the Stadio Olimpico.”
Italy: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Edoardo Padovani, 13 Marco Zanon , 12 Luca Morisi, 11 Angelo Esposito , 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Sergio Parisse (Captain), 7 Jake Polledri, 6 Abraham Jurgens Steyn, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 David Sisi , 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements: 16 Luca Bigi , 17 Cherif Traore, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Alessandro Zanni, 20 Sebastian Negri, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Ian Mckinley , 23 Luca Sperandio
Date: Saturday, March 16
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Kick-off: 13.30 (12.30 GMT)
Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant referees: Nigel Owens (Wales), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)
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