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New back three for Italy

TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Italy head coach Gonzalo Quesada announced the squad that will face Ireland on Saturday.

This will be the 39th meeting between the two teams and the tenth at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

Only one change has been made to the starting XV compared to the win against Scotland in their tournament debut.

A new extended attacking back three will feature Lorenzo Pani, who, almost two years after his last start, returns to the No.15 jersey, with Ioane and Lynagh confirmed as wingers.

The centre pairing will consist of Menoncello and Marin, who played together in November against Chile.

The key midfield positions will once again be entrusted to Paolo Garbisi and Alessandro Fusco.

The back row of Lorenzo Cannone, captain Lamaro, and Zuliani, who has now won 40 caps for the Azzurri, has been confirmed.

The second row will feature Zambonin and Niccolò Cannone, while the front row will feature Ferrari.

Ready to come off the bench are Di Bartolomeo, Spagnolo, Hasa, Ruzza, Favretto, Odiase, Alessandro Garbisi and Odogwu.

Italy: 15 Lorenzo Pani, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Leonardo Marin, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Michele Lamaro (captain), 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 Niccolo Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements: 16 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Muhamed Hasa, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Riccardo Favretto, 21 David Odiase, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Paolo Odogwu

Date: Saturday, January 14
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Kick-off: 14.10 (15.10 CET; 14.10 GMT)
Referee: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
Assistant referees: Matthew Carley (England), Luc Ramos (France)
TMO: Ian Tempest (England)

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